eligion 


i  i;M::l;i:ii; 


NOV   6   1911      *! 


BR    121     .H35AX 

Halfyard,  Samuel  Follett 

1871- 
Fundamentals  of  the 

Christian  religion 


Fundamentals 

of  the 

Christian  Religion 


SAMUEL  F.  HALFYARD,  Ph.  D. 

Professor  of  Philosophy  and  Theology  In 
Wesley  College. 

Author  of  "The  Spiritual  Basis  of 
Man  and  Nature." 


CINCINNATI:  JENNINGS  &  GRAHAM 
NEW    YORK:    EATON&MAI 


AM 

NS 


COPYRIGHT,   1911, 
BY  JENNINGS  &  GRAHAM 


To  THE  Memory  of  My 

Jfa%r  nub  ^otl|er. 

Who  Lived  and  Died  in  the  Faith 

OF    THE    Gospel 

OF  Christ, 

31  J^Mcate  li|ta  '^aak. 


PREFACE. 

This  volume  makes  no  attempt  to  deal  with 
the  Christian  religion  in  its  entirety  or  as 
a  system,  but  seeks  to  exhibit  its  most  char- 
acteristic teachings.  Its  purpose  is  to  call 
attention  to  the  fundamental  truths  of 
Christianity  and  to  present  them  in  such  a 
way  as  to  establish  faith  in  the  saving  and 
renewing  power  of  the  gospel.  It  moreover 
aims  to  show  that  the  content  of  the  Chris- 
tian revelation  contains  Grod's  best  message 
to  mankind,  and  as  such  can  never  be  super- 
seded. The  language  used  and  the  method 
employed  will,  we  trust,  appeal  to  those  of 
the  workshop  and  office  as  well  as  to  the 
student  and  specialist. 

That  the  following  pages  may  quicken 
spiritual  faith  and  make  religious  love  ar- 
dent is  the  prayer  of  the  writer. 

Samuel  F.  Halfyard. 


CONTENTS. 

Page 

Christianity  and  other  Religions,         -  11 

II.     The  Christian  Idea  OF  God,        -         -  45 

III.     The  Christian  Idea  of  God.—  Continued,  89 
The  Fatherhood  of  God  . 

IV.     The  Pre-eminence  of  Christ,             -  121 

V.     Man  in  the  Image  of  God,    -         -         -  159 

VI.     On  Moral  Perfection,    -         -         -  187 

VII.     The  Life  Everlasting,          -         -         -  213 

VIII.     Appendix, 243 


"The  Christian  religion  is  something  simple  and 
sublime ;  it  means  one  thing  and  one  thing  only— Eter- 
nal life  in  the  midst  of  time,  by  the  strength  and  under 
the  eyes  of  God/' — Adolph  Harnaok. 

*'  I  make  no  secret  that  true  Christianity,  I  mean  the 
religion  of  Christ,  seems  to  me  to  become  more  and 
more  exalted  the  more  we  appreciate  the  treasures  of 
truth  hidden  in  the  despised  religions  of  the  world.'' 

— Max  Muller. 

"The  Christian  revelation  is  essentially  a  revelation 
of  God.  It  teaches  us  what  God  is,  and  what  He  means. 
It  is,  primarily  and  fundamentally,  a  revelation  of  the 
righteousness  and  grace  of  God.  It  tells  us  how  God 
feels  toward  us ;  what  He  has  made  us  for ;  what  He  has 
done  and  is  doing  for  us ;  how  we  are  to  think  of  life  and 
its  meaning,  of  death  and  destiny,  of  our  mutual  human 
relations  also,  and  the  spirit  in  which  we  are  to  live." 

— Borden  P.  Bowne. 


CHAPTER  I. 

CHRISTIANITY  AND  OTHER  RELIG- 
IONS. 

No  adequate  appreciation  of  tihie  Christian  re- 
ligion can  be  obtained  unless  it  is  studied  in 
connection  with  the  non-Christian  religions 
which  have  flourished  at  various  times  in  the 
history  of  the  world.  No  just  appraisement 
of  its  character  can  be  entered  into  until  its 
place  in  the  history  of  the  spiritual  life  of 
man  be  first  determined  and  its  relation  to 
the  religious  faiths  that  have  preceded  it  de^ 
fined.  No  true  estim^ate  of  its  greatness  can 
be  made  until  it  is  compared  with,  the  rest 
of  the  religious  beliefs,  aspirations,  and  hopes 
of  the  hmnan  race.  Its  measureless  superi- 
ority can  become  manifest  only  as  it  is  put  in 
comparison  with  the  various  ethnic  systems 
that  have  sought  the  allegiance  of  mankind. 
To  justly  appreciate  the  Christian  reven 
lation  it  will  not  be  necessary,  however,  to 
degrade  the  numerous  other  faiths  that  have 
for  many  centuries  molded  the  lives  and 
shaped  the  destinies  of  innumerable  millions. 
11 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

It  is  wholly  unnecessary  to  depreciate  the 
non-Christian  religions  of  the  world  in  order 
that  Christianity  may  be  rightly  exalted.  But 
this  truth  has  not  always  been  kept  in  mind. 
Certain  writers,  in  their  eagerness  to  show 
the  perfection  and  finality  of  the  Christian 
religion,  have,  we  think,  been  unduly  severe 
in  their  condemnation  of  all  other  systems. 
Jonathan  Edwards  asserted  that  ''the  bigger 
part  of  men  who  have  died  heretofore  have 
gone  to  hell ;  the  whole  heathen  world  is  hope- 
lessly doomed;  against  the  non-elect  the 
wrath  of  God  is  burning,  the  furnace  hot, 
the  flames  rage  and  glow,  the  devils  are 
awaiting  for  their  coming  like  lions  re- 
strained and  greedy  for  their  prey."  Again, 
he  wrote  that ' '  from  time  to  time  the  genera- 
tions in  darkened  lands,  without  temple,  with- 
out Bible,  without  religious  teacher,  are  swept 
into  the  future  as  the  housewife  lifts  the  lids 
from  the  glowing  coals  and  sweeps  flies  into 
the  flames."  Another  writer  held  that  the 
ethnic  religions  were  ''in  their  source,  the 
work  of  fraud;  in  their  essence,  corrupt  su- 
perstitions; in  their  doctrines,  wholly  false; 
in  their  moral  tendency,  absolutely  injurious ; 
and  in  their  result,  degenerating  more  and 
more  into  greater  evil."^ 

12 


Christianity  and  Other  Religions. 

While  this  conception  of  the  non-Christian 
systems  contains  much  truth,  it  also  contains 
no  little  error.  No  religions  faith,  however 
degraded  and  base,  has  been  entirely  false 
and  wholly  devoid  of  ennobling  qualities.  No 
nation,  however  corrupt  and  cruel,  has  been 
without  its  ^^  elect  spirits  who  have  been 
guides  and  inspirations  to  their  fellows  in 
their  quest  for  the  Lord  and  Deliverer  and 
Comrade  of  their  souls.''  While  the  Chris- 
tian religion  contams  the  sole  self -revelation 
of  God  to  man,  we  nevertheless  believe  that 
a  measure  of  spiritual  light  has  been  shed 
upon  the  pathway  of  all  peoples.  Indeed,  the 
Christian  revelation  teaches  that  there  is  a 
Light  which  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh 
into  the  world.  All  those  religious  systems 
which  have  gained  wide  acceptance  and  held 
powerful  sway  over  the  heart  and  conscience 
of  the  nations  must  have  had  in  them  some 
elements  of  truth.  Hoar^^  with  age  and  ex- 
pressing in  their  creeds  a,nd  worship  the  deep- 
est instincts  of  the  human  heart,  they  have 
been  a  source  of  inspiration  to  not  a  few 
sincere  and  devout  souls.  Indeed,  were  they 
wholly  the  result  of  ignorance  and  supersti- 
tion and  altogether  degrading,  they  would 
long  ere  this  in  the  evolution  of  the  race  have 
13 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

disappeared  from  tlie  face  of  the  eartli. 
'^Cherishing  the  light  which  God  has  given 
us  and  eager  to  send  this  light  everywhither, 
we  do  not  believe  that  God,  the  Eternal 
Spirit,  has  left  Himself  without  witness  in 
non-Christian  nations.  There  is  a  divine  light 
enlightening  every  man.''  We  believe  that 
men  everywhere  who  have  been  true  to  reason 
and  conscience  have  received  light  to  show 
them  the  way  to  God.  ''In  every  nation  he 
that  feareth  God,  and  worketh  righteousness, 
is  accepted  with  Him. ' '  Gleams  of  light  from 
heaven,  have  shone  upon  all  nations.  As  the 
sun  in  glorious  splendor  shines  upon  every 
land,  bringing  light  and  life  to  all,  so  the  sun- 
rise from  on  high  hath  visited  all  people  to 
give  light  to  them  that  sit  in  darkneiss  and  in 
the  shadow  of  death.  ' '  The  sun  which  shone 
over  Bethlehem  and  Calvary  has  cast  some 
celestial  illumination  and  called  forth  some 
devout  and  holy  aspirations  by  the  Nile  and 
the  Ganges,  in  the  deserts  of  Arabia  and  by 
the  waves  of  the  Yellow  Sea."  Plato's  idea 
of  the  good  as  the  highest  of  all  concepts,  the 
teaching  of  Buddha  concerning  sympathy  and 
self-denial,  the  ethical  precepts  of  Confucius, 
the  lofty  maxims  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  the 
proclamation  of  the  divine  unity  and  sover- 
34 


Christianity  and  Other  Religions. 

eignty  by  tlie  propliet  of  Mecca  have  all  been 
radiated  from  tbe  one  Celestial  source.  The 
altars  on  the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigris,  the 
temples  of  China  and  G-reece,  the  ritual  of 
Egypt  and  India  all  testify  that  God  has  ever 
been  in  the  world  creating  in  the  hearts  of 
His  children  a  desire  for  the  things  that  are 
highest  and  best. 

When,  however,  the  ethnic  religions  are 
studied  in  their  fundamental  ideas  and  in  the 
civilization  which  they  have  produced  it  will 
at  once  be  seen  that  they  fall  far  short  of 
what  a  religion  should  accomplish  for  man- 
kind. And  the  worth  of  every  religious  sys- 
tem must  be  estimated  not  by  ^^  scattered 
moral  maxims  and  stray  gleams  of  religious 
insight,"  but  by  its  teaching  concerning  the 
character  of  God,  the  dignity  of  man,  and 
the  meaning  of  human  life.  It  is  in  these 
respects  thati  the  non-Christian  religions  have 
been  weighed  and  found  wanting.  While  they 
contain  many  lofty  maxims  and  noble  pre- 
cepts their  conception  of  God  and  His  pur- 
pose in  the  earth  has  been  so  hideous  as  to 
bring  about  a  revolt  against  them.  While 
they  contain  many  gleams  of  truth  divinely 
sent,  their  idea  of  the  Creator,  of  life,  and 
of  human  destiny  is  so  grotesque  as  to  utterly 
15 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

incapa-citate  them  from  becoming  universal 
and  final  systems.  One  writer  says  that  *4he 
truth  that  is  in  them  is  wrapped  up  with  so 
much  that  is  puerile,  stupid,  and  revolting, 
that  they  are  doomed  to  perish. ' '  The  fact  of 
the  matter  is  that  those  religions  have  out- 
lived their  usefulness  and  are  no  longer  fitted 
to  serve  the  spiritual  interests  of  mankind. 
Hinduism,  Buddhism,  Confucianism  have  all 
been  arrested  and  are  unable  to  meet  the  in- 
teilectual  and  moral  needs  of  a  developing 
humanity.  Some  one  has  compared  them  to 
great  vessels  in  the  stream  along  which  the 
current  of  time  flows  past.  Each  year  they 
are  farther  behind  the  spirit  of  the  age  and 
less  in  harmony  with  its  demands.  Though 
not  the  inventions  of  priestly  fraud,  nor 
w^holly  false  and  corrupt,  the  sentence  of 
death  has  nevertheless  been  passed  upon 
them.  With  vitality  depleted  and  strength 
exhausted  they  must  ultimately  give  way  to 
a  higher  and  purer  faith.  Lacking  in  moral 
vigor  and  dying  at  the  core  they  are  doomed 
to  perish  and  give  place  to  the  revelation 
which  God  has  made  in  Christ. 

That  the  hour  of  the  non-Christian  reli- 
gions has  come  is  evident  from  the  fact  that 
they  have  utterly  failed  to  accomplish  what 
16 


Christianity  and  Other  Eeligions. 

they  ought  to  have  done  for  thosei  whose,  al- 
legiance they  have  claimed.  Indeed,  the  life 
of  the  nations  that  they  have  nourished  has 
either  become  stagnant  or  turned  aside  into 
foul  and  corrupt  channels.  The  most  pro- 
found students  of  the  civilization  of  Eastern 
nations  affirm  that  physical,  mental,  and  spir- 
itual inertia  is  the  deepest  vice  of  those  peo- 
ples. And  this  sluggishness  is  due  to  no  small 
extent  tO'  their  religious  systems  which,  them- 
selves incapable  of  change,  render  all  efforts 
at  ref O'lm  impossible.  And  it  is  clear  that  no 
progress  can  be  made  until  those  religions 
are  swept  away  and  their  places  taken  by  a 
nobler  faith. 

Confucianism  has  given  to  the  world  the 
celestial  empire,  a  nation  which  can  scarcely 
be  said  to  have  taken  a  step  forward  for  thou- 
sands of  years.  The  educational  institutions 
of  that  land  which  have  grown  up  ^^  under  a 
system  which  makes  submission  to  authority 
its  chief  virtue' '  have  sapped  the  energies 
of  the  people  and  crushed  the  present  under 
the  dead  hand  of  the  past.  A  spiritual  apathy 
has  fallen  upon  the  nation  from  whose  blightr- 
ful  influence  there  are  but  few  signs  of  re- 
covery. ^*Walk  in  the  trodden  paths''  is  the 
injunction  which  sums  up  the  ethical  instruc- 

2  17 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

tion  and  which  renders  futile  all  attempts  to 
break  away  from  the  noble  past.  While  the 
religion  of  Confucius  possesses  many  merits 
and  in  various  ways  exerts  a  beneficial  effect 
upon  its  followers,  the  absence  of  expectation 
and  hope  is  accompanied  by  a  fearful  ennui. 
A  religious  faith  which  lacks  all  sense  of  a 
personal  God  as  the  Creator  and  Father  of 
men,  which  fails  to  teach  human  responsibil- 
ity, which  inspires  no  high  and  lofty  ideals, 
and  which  entertains  no  worthy  conception 
of  a  future  life,  is  fitted  neither  to  produce 
a  high  civilization  nor  become  a  universal  re- 
ligion. 

The  present  status  of  Buddhism  is  not  of 
such  an  order  as  to  inspire  confidence  in  its 
future.  Students  of  Buddhism  tell  us  that 
it  should  be  called  ^^The  Night  of  x\sia'' 
rather  than  ''The  Light  of  Asia.''  Light  to 
be  sure  it  has  shed  upon  the  pathway  of  mil- 
lions, but  darkness  and  not  light  has  charac- 
terized it  for  many  centuries  wherever  its 
power  has  been  felt.  Those  who  have  come 
in  contact  with  it  in  the  East  tell  us  ' '  the  fur- 
ther we  penetrat©  in  this  system  the  more 
we  are  convinced  of  the  rottenness  and  dead- 
ness  of  the  whole  structure."  During  the 
early  stages  of  its  history  it  inspired  the 

18 


Christianity  and  Other  Religions. 

hearts  of  multitudes  with  a  new  hope,  ena- 
bling them  to  meet  bravely  misfortune  and  ill 
and  furnishing  them  with  new  incentives  to 
life^  but  with  the  paissing  of  the  centuries  it 
has  lost  its  freshneiss  and  vigor  and  degener- 
ated into,  a  philosophy  of  despair.  In  the 
days  of  its  youth  it  was  imbued  with  a  high 
missionary  zeal  and  went  forth  as  a  glad 
evangel  proclaiming  liberty  to  the  nations, 
but  with  the  gathering  years  its  missionary 
spirit  has  waned  and  its  energy  become  well- 
nigh  exhausted.  The  followers  of  Buddha 
are  no  longer  inspired  by  his  lofty  maxims, 
but  are  content  to  lie  embraced  in  the  arms 
of  a  system  that  spells  despair  and  death. 
Indeed,  Buddhism  is  virtually  a  philosophical 
atheism  rather  than  a  religious  faith. 

Tradition  informs  us  that  about  the  be- 
ginning of  the  sixth  century  of  the  present 
era  Buddhism  crossed  the  seas  in  a  ship  of 
fire  and  kindled  the  sacred  light  of  Buddha 
on  the  altars  of  Japan.  ^'It  soon  captured 
the  Samurai,  entered  the  palace,  ascended  the 
throne,  and  swayed  the  scepter  of  the  Mika- 
dos.'*  But  Buddhism  has  failed  in  Japan  as 
it  has  in  the  land  of  its  birth  to  produce  any 
high  development  of  thought  and  life.  The 
marvelous  energy  that  characterizes  Japan 

19 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Keligion. 

to-day  and  that  is  flowing  out  into  all  the 
channels  of  its  activities,  giving  birth  to  new 
institutions  and  great  men,  has  been  produced 
not  by  the  teachings  of  Gautama,  but  by  the 
wave  of  a  new  civilization  that  has  reached 
its  shores  from  the  West.  The  influence  of 
Christianity,  and  not  that  of  Buddhism,  is 
the  true  cause  of  the  awakening  of  the  latent 
genius  and  long  dormant  energies  of  the  is- 
land kingdom. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  Hinduism.  The 
Hindus,  though  by  nature  an  intellectual  peo- 
ple, have  given  birth  to  no  ideas  that  have  en- 
riched the  human  race.  Little  or  no  advance- 
ment ha,s  been  made  in  India  in  education, 
science,  or  art.  Industrial  and  social  prog- 
ress is  at  a  low  ebb.  The  political  institu- 
tions are  utterly  unable  to  minister  to  the 
needs  of  the  land.  The  elaborate  systems  of 
philosophy  which  have  been  developed  have 
produced  no  worthy  conceptions  of  the  world 
or  human  life,  but  have  been  as  disordered 
and  barren  as  dreiams.  The  Hindu  mind  has 
not  advanced  beyond  a  pantheistic  conception 
of  the  universe.  Such  a  world  view  inevita- 
bly breeding  pessimism,  fatalism,  and  despair 
has  debased  and  demoralized  the  higher  as- 
pirations of  the  nation.     The  castle  system, 

20 


Christianity  and  Other  Eeligions. 

moreover— those  impassable  gulfs  whioli  di- 
vide society  and  which  are  a  curse  to  the  land 
—has  been  sanctioned  by  the  Hindu  religion. 
One  writer  says,  ^'If  the  Hindu  mind  could 
be  swept  clean  of  all  its  religious  conceptions 
and  their  place  taken  by  the  ideas  of  the 
Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
it  would  be  for  India  a  blessing  great  beyond 
all  comparison.** 

And  what  shall  we  say  of  Mohammedan- 
ism? Islamism  is  a  yoke  on  the  neck  of  man- 
kind which  is  too  grievous  to  be  borne.  Its 
conquest  of  men  was  not  by  moral  means,  but 
by  brute  force.  And  it  has  neither  created 
anything  durable  among  savage  races  nor 
met  the  demands  of  the  peoples  of  higher 
culture.  Arabia.,  Turkey,  Nortb  and  Central 
Africa  are  witnesses  to  the  intellectual  and 
moral  weakness  of  Islamismi.  Its  morality 
is  but  a  stage  beyond  that  of  idolatry,  while 
the  institutions  and  customs  it  has  perpetu- 
ated stamp  it  as  an  inferior  religion.  While 
fitted  to  discipline  the  life  of  mankind  in  a 
low  stage  of  development  it  is  wholly  incapa- 
ble of  satisfying  the  deeper  needs  of  the  race. 
Eenan  says  of  this  religion:  ''Islamism,  fol- 
lowing as  it  did  on  ground  that  was  none  of 
the  best^  bas,  on  the  whole,  done  as  mucli 

21 


Fundamentals  of  the  Cheistian  Eeligion. 

harm  as  good  to  tlie  human  race.  It  has  sti- 
fled everything  by  its  dry  and  desolating  sim- 
plicity.'' Another  writer  exclaims:  ^^Alto- 
gether, in  spite  of  its  redeeming  features,  as 
a  communication  of  spiritual  truth  to  the 
world,  a  message  respecting  God,  or  respect- 
ing man,  respecting  the  divine  government, 
or  respecting  human  destinies,  it  does  not  ad- 
mit of  being  compared  with  Christianity." 

But  while  the  extrarChristian  religions 
are  in  a,  state  of  decadence,  Christianity  still 
^'carries  the  dew  of  her  youth.''  While  they 
are  stationary  and  dying  at  the  root,  ChWs- 
tianity  is  progressive  and  blossoming  forth 
into  vigorous  life.  While  they  ha.ve  ex- 
hausted their  vitality,  the  Christian  religion 
shows  no  sign  of  weakness  nor  diminution  of 
power.  While  they  are  one-sided  and  defect- 
ive, the  Christian  faith  possesses  full-orbed 
and  in  balanced  harmony  all  the  ideals  and 
spiritual  aspirations  of  humanity.  While  all 
other  religions  are  but  partial  systems,  Chris- 
tianity includes  all  that  is  beautiful  and 
true,  useful  and  lovely,  of  all  that  man  has 
ever  thought  or  dreamed.  Komanes  in  his 
*' Thoughts  on  Religion"  says:  ^^This  whole 
system  of  religion  is  so  immeasurably  in  ad- 
vance of  all  others,  that  it  may  fairly  be  said, 
22 


Christianity  and  Other  Religions. 

if  it  had  not  been  for  the  Jews,  the  human 
race  would  not  have  had  any  religion  worth 
our  serious  attention  as  such/' 

But  what,  it  might  be  asked,  is  Christian- 
ity? "What  are  its  distinctive  features? 
What  is  it  that  constitutes  its  true  character? 
Wherein  does  it  differ  from  other  religions? 
What  right  has  it  to  the  aifections  of  man- 
kind? What  credentials  does  it  present  to 
support  its  claim  to  a  universal  religion? 

* '  Christianity  is  a.  simple  thing,  very  sim- 
ple. It  is  absolute,  pure  morality;  absolute, 
pure  religion— the  love  of  man;  the  love  of 
God  acting  without  let  or  hindrance.  The 
only  creed  it  lays  down  is  the  great  truth 
which  springs  up  spontaneous  in  the  holy 
heart— there  is  a  God.  Its  watchword  is.  Be 
perfect  as  your  Father  in  heaven.  The  only 
form  it  demandls  is  a  divine  life— doing  the 
best  thing  in  the  best  way,  from  the  highest 
motives ;  perfect  obedience  to  the  great  law  of 
God."^ 

The  Christian  religion  involves  new  be- 
liefs. From  a  comparative  study  of  the  great 
religions  of  the  world  Max  Miiller  tells  us 
that  Christianity  involves  a  complete  change 
in  the  spiritual  condition  of  mankind  and 
marks  the  great  turning  point  in  the  history 

23 


Fundamentals  of  the  Chkistian  Eeligion. 

of  thei  world.  As  to  God  we  learn  that  He 
is  presented  both  as  the  Creator  of  men  and 
the  Father  of  our  spirits.  He  is  s.et  forth  as 
our  divine  Helper  and  Friend.  He  is  not  in^ 
ditferent  to  human  needs,  but  is  deeply  solic- 
itous in  all  that  concerns  His  children.  He 
is  the  greatest  of  burden  bearers.  None  have 
sacrificed  for  humanity  as  has  God.  And  that 
He  might  show  us  His  love  and  teach  us  how 
to  love  He  has  wondrously  revealed  Himself 
in  His  Son  Jesus  Christ.  His  Spirit  is  ever 
present  in  the  hearts  of  men,  illuminating 
their  thoughts,  energizing  their  wills,  and 
regulating  their  emotions.  As  to  man  Chris- 
tianity has  brought  a  new  ideal  of  him  intO' 
the  world,  and  has  shown  that  he  is  a  being 
of  infinite  dignity  and  worth.  ^  ^  Man  is  seen, 
appreciated,  understood,  inspired,  and  served 
only  in  the  luminous  atmosphere  of  Christian 
truth  and  love. ' '  He  is  discovered  and  valued 
in  the  gospel  of  Christ  as  nowhere  else.  He 
is  a  child  of  God,  has  an  infinite  value,  and 
is  an  heir  of  etenial  life.  He  has  not  been 
made  for  a  day,  but  carries  within  him  an 
endless  life.  His  high  honor  is  to  know  God 
and  to  grow  like  Him.  His  end  is  to  be  one  • 
with  God.  The  relation  of  man  to  man  is 
summed  up  in  a  spirit  of  mutual  helpfulness 
24 


Christianity  and  Other  Religions. 

andj  burden-bearing'.  The  spirit  of  Cbrist  is 
fulfilled  when  the  individual  loves  his  neigh- 
bor as  himself  and  when  the  strong  bear  the 
burdens  of  the  weak. 

As  to  sin  the  Christian  religion  teaches 
that  it  ha,s  its  roots  not  in  creaturely  limita- 
tions nor  in  man's  sensuous  nature,  but  in 
free  moral  agency  which  is  alien  to  God.  It 
is  not  negation  or  lack  of  goodness;  it  springs 
from  the  self-centered  will  whose  choice  is 
averse  to  the  law  of  divine  love.  Sin  is  self- 
ishness; it  is  perverse  self-assertion.  And 
sin  is  predicable  of  inward  motives  and  de- 
sires as  well  as  of  the  external  conduct.  It 
is  in  the  inner  world  of  thought  and  feeling 
which  is  forever  hidden  from  mortal  eyes  that 
sin  arises.  Sin  consists  ^'in  states  and  dispo- 
sitions of  the  heart.''  The  evil  purpose,  the 
impure  motive,  the  unclean  thought,  the  un- 
kind judgment  are  the  hidden  germs  from 
which  moral  evil  springs.  ^^Out  of  the  heart 
proceed  evil  thoughts,  murders,  adulteries, 
fornications,  thefts,  false  witness,  blasphe- 
mies." As  to  salvation  Christianity  affirms 
that  the  Divine  entered  into  humanity  to  re- 
veal to  man  God's  gracious  love  and  to  show 
him  the  way  to'  his  Father's  house  from  which; 
he  had  strayed.    It  asserts  that  the  supreme 

25 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

aim  of  the  gospel  is  to  save  mankind  from 
sin,  to  turn  their  faces  toward  God,  and  to 
make  them  glorious  citizens  of  the  Kingdom 
of  heaven.  The  Divine  Head  of  the  Christian 
Church  declared  that  He  came  not  to  destroy 
men's  lives,  but  to  save  them.  Thus  the  reli- 
gion instituted  by  Christ  ^^was  a  source  of 
new  moral  forces,  introduced  higher  and  no- 
bler ideals,  created  a  finer  sense  of  obliga- 
tions toward  God,  and  a  more  sensitive  con- 
science as  regards  man.'' 

Christianity  has  been  called  a  religion  of 
redemption.  The  message  of  the  Christian 
revelation  is  redemption  from  sin ;  this  may 
be  said  to  be  its  inner  essence.  ^ '  The  gospel 
is  no  mere  proclamation  of  ^eternal  truths,' 
but  the  discovery  of  a  saving  purpose  of  God 
for  mankind,  executed  in  time."  It  is  a  plan, 
^^not  of  moral  tea,ching,  but  first  of  all,  of  re- 
demption and  reconciliation;  birth  before 
life  and  life  before  work."  Its  fundamental 
purpose  is  to  uproot  evil,  reform  character, 
give  men  power  over  temptation,  impart  new 
incentives  for  living,  and  fill  the  soul  with 
sweetness  and  light.  Its  highborn  aim  is  to 
purify  society  of  greed  and  lust,  eradicate 
from  the  social  body  the  evils  that  consume 
it,  and  establish  feelings  of  good  will  between 

26 


Christianity  and  Other  Religions. 

man  and  man.  It  seeks  to  recover  men  from 
the  dominion  of  sin  and  estrangement  to  God 
and  to  bestow  upon  them  a  secret  power 
whereby  they  might  live  soberly,  righteionsly, 
and  godly  in  this  present  world.  *^A11  of  its 
history  and  its  teachings  mnst  be  studied  in 
the  light  of  that  dominating  pnrpO'se.'' 

The  redemptive  nature  of  the  Christian 
religion  appears  from  the  personality  and 
life  of  its  Divine  Head.  The  Central  figure  of 
Christianity  is  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  its  in- 
spiration and  life.  The  center  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith  is  no>  theological  system,  no  dog- 
matic creed,  no  ethical  rules  of  conduct,  but  a 
living  Christ.  It  is  an  embodiment  of  His 
teaching  and  spirit.  ^^The  longer  I  live,'* 
says  Gladstone,  ^'the  more  I  feel  that  Chris- 
tianity does  not  consist  in  any  particular  sys- 
tem of  Church  government  or  in  any  credal 
statement^  but  that  Christianity  is  Christ." 
His  gracious  work  of  redeeming  love  is  dis- 
closed in  the  announcement  of  the  angel  con- 
cerning His  advent,  ^^Thou  shalt  call  His 
name  Jesus,  for  He  shall  save  His  people 
from  their  sins.''  He  came  to  seek  and  to 
save  the  lost.  His  mission  was  to  establish  on 
earth  a  divine  rule,  a  spiritual  kingdom  in 
the  hearts  of  men.    His  aim  was  to  beget  in 

27 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

the  human  soul  a  new-born  hope  which  would 
enable  it  to  rise  above  the  sordidness  of  earth 
into  the  s]3iritual  altitudes  of  the  divine  life 
and  favor.  There  floated  before  the  mind 
of  the  Son  of  God  the  vision  of  humanity 
cleansed  of  its  sin,  purged  of  its  dross,  and 
filled  with  the  tides  of  the  divine  love.  And 
^'Christ  is  a  great  Savior,  as  He  redeems  or 
sets  free  the  mind,  cleansing  it  from  evil, 
breathing  into'  it  the  love  of  virtue,  calling 
forth  it,s'  noblest,  faculties  and  affections,  en- 
duing it  with  moral  power,  restoring  it  to 
order,  health,  and  liberty.'' 

In  the  year  1893  in  the  great  ^^city  by  the 
unsaJted  sea''  was  held  the  Parliament  of 
Religions,  the  most  notable  gathering  of  its 
kind  in  the  history  of  the  world.  To  that  Par- 
liament representatives  of  all  nations  came  to 
present  the  claims  of  their  respective  relig- 
ions. Wise  men  from  the  East,  from  China,, 
Japan,  India,  clad  in  gorgeous  robes,  ^^  min- 
gled with  the  sober-clad  representatives  of 
the  West."  These  representatives  of  every 
land  and  clime  assembled  to  exhibit  the  great- 
ness and  grandeur  of  their  religious  faiths. 
The  loftiest  and  purest  teaching  of  each  relig- 
ion wa.s  skillfully  set  forth  by  eloquent  and 
learned  men.    Such  themes  as  the  charaeter 

28 


Christianity  and  Other  Religions. 

of  God,  His  relation  to  man,  and  tlie  divine 
purpose  in  the  eartli  were  treated  with  depth 
of  spiritual  insight.  Feelings  of  deepest  rev- 
eirenee  were  expressed  for  the  messeingers  di- 
vinely sent  to  show  mankind  the  way  to  God 
and  to  teach  them  His  truth.  But  wherein 
did  the  message  of  the  Christian  religion 
differ  from  that  of  the  extrarChristian  relig- 
ions I  Wherein  lay  the  distinction  between 
the  faith  of  the  West  and  those  of  the  East? 
Christianity  alone  presented  as  its  Head  a 
Savior  who  has  power  to^  regenerate  the  hu- 
man heart  and  fill  it  with  a  life  divine.  The 
Christian  religion  alone  claimed  to  be  able 
to  recover  the  individual  from  the  guilt  of 
sin  and  restore  to  him  the  free  and  full  use 
of  his  noblest  powers.  No  other  religious 
faith  disclosed  a  God  whO'  was  incarnated  in 
humanity,  seeking  by  His  love  to  woo  men 
and  to  build  up  the  kingdom  that  is  within. 
The  Christian  revelation  alone  proclaimed 
that  religion  is  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  of 
men,  giving  vigor  to  the  understanding,  con- 
stancy to  the  will,  and  enlargement  to  the 
affections.  It  was  the  sole  religion  which  of- 
fered to  the  world  ^^a  new  gospel,  that  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God;  a  new  ideal,  that  of  the 
character  of  Jesus ;  and  a  new  power,  that  of 
29 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

the  Divine  Spirit  realizing  the  Kingdom  of 
God  by  transforming  men  into  the  image  of 
Christ.'' 

Christianity  has,  moreover,  been  charac- 
teirized  as  a  religion  of  lo>ve.  The  foundation 
stone  on  which  the  entire  structure  of  the 
Christian  religion  has  been  reared  is  the  prin- 
ciple of  love.  Christianity  is  primarily,  as 
already  asserted,  not  a  code  of  ethics,  not  a 
system  of  doctrine,  not  an  ecclesiastical  or- 
ganization, but  a  great  life-giving  principle 
which  is  fulfilled  in  one  word— love.  All  that 
the  Christian  religion  has  been,  is,  and  hopes 
to  be,  is  summed  up  in  the  two  great  com- 
mands which  set  forth  ^^love  to  God"  and 
^^love  to  man''  as  the  fulfilling  of  the 
whole  law.  And  no  religion  has  appealed  so 
strongly  to  this  noblest  and  most  powerful 
sentiment  of  the  heart  as  has  Christianity. 
Other  religions  have  appealed  to  the  intellect, 
to  the  aesthetic  naturei,  and  to  sensual  desire, 
but  Christianity  makes  its  appeal  to  the  deep- 
est and  most  natural  emotion  of  the  human 
soul.  The  Christian  religion  draws  men,  not 
by  force,  nor  by  fear,  but  by  the  cords  of 
love.  And  the  Christian  revelation  as  *^a  re- 
ligion of  love  finds  the  way,  as  no  other  can, 
to  make  man  free,  to  unseal  his  energies,  and 

30 


Christianity  and  Other  Eeligions. 

to  lead  Mm  upwards  to  the  best  life."  It 
is  not  too  mucli  to  say  tliat  more  have  been  at- 
tracted to  the  altars  of  the  Christian  faith  by 
this  great  principle  than  by  all  her  doctrines, 
her  ritual,  and  her  creeds.  Indeed,  the  law  of 
love  as  embodied  in  all  its  richness  and 
beauty  in  the  life  of  Christ  and  realized 
though  imperfectly  in  His  followers  has  won 
the  allegiance  of  many  hearts  which  would 
have  been  repelled  by  dogma  and  credal  state- 
ment. So  impressed  was  Abraham'  Lincoln 
with  the  beauty  and  sublimity  of  this  law  that 
he  exclaimed:  ^^When  I  find  a  Church  that 
will  be  content  to  write  over  its  doors,  ^  Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart, 
mind,  soul,  and  strength,  and  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself,'  I  am  ready  to  join  that  Church. '^ 

The  superiority  of  Christianity  may  be 
seen  in  the  results  it  has  produced  during  the 
nineteen  centuries  of  its  history.  The  value 
of  the  Christian  religion,  like  that  of  all  other 
institutions,  must  be  estimated  by  the  service 
it  has  rendered  mankind.  The  tree  must  be 
judged  by  its  fruits,  and  not  by  its  roots. 
Emerson  somewhere  observes  that  the  truest 
test  of  civilization  is  not  the  census,  nor  the 
size  of  cities,  nor  the  crops,  but  the  kind  of 
man  the  country  turns  outw  So  the  real  test 
31 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

of  the  Cliristian  faith  is  not  its  doctrine  nor 
its  ritual,  but  the  type  of  character  it  pro- 
duces. Judged  by  this  standard  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  Christian  revelation  surpasses 
all  other  movements  of  history,  whether  relig- 
ious faiths,  systems  of  philosophy,  or  social 
and  political  organizations.  Christianity  has 
done  more  for  the  thought,  conduct,  and  prog- 
ress of  the  race  than  any  other  institution 
that  man  has  founded.  ^^The  characters 
which  it  has  formed,  the  institutions  to  which 
it  has  given  birth,  the  actual  results  achieved 
by  it,  are  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  the 
world. ' ' 

With  the  advent  of  the  Christian  religion 
^^a  new  era  dawned  upon  the  human  mind, 
and  the  whole  moral  and  social  life  of  our 
race. ' '  To  be  sure  Christianity  did  not  inter- 
fere with  existing  social  conditions ;  it  made 
no  attempt  to  change  the  external  political 
and  social  arrangements  it  found  established. 
It  nevertheless  introduced  into  society  a  new 
spirit,  a  new  leaven,  that  transformed  it  in  all 
its  relations.  It  did  not  abolish  slavery,  but 
it  taught  that  every  man  is  a  child  of  God 
endowed  with  an  immortal  spirit,  and  tlius 
prepared  the  way  for  the  overthrow  of  the 
accursed  institution.  It  raised  woman  from 
32 


Christianity  and  Other  Religions. 

the  degraded  place  in  which  it  found  her  to  a 
position  of  honor  and  usefulness  by  teaching 
that  she  is  not  man's  slave,  but  his  companion 
and  helpmeet.  As  a  result  of  the  value  it 
placed  upon  childhood  by  declaring  that  of 
such  is  the  Kingdom  of  heaven,  it  put  an 
end  to  the  cruel  practice  of  the  destruction 
of  children  which  was  so  common  throughout 
the  Roman  Empire.  It  ministered  to  the 
needs  of  the  poor  and  the  sick,  and  dispensed 
blessings  to  the  criminal  and  the  outcast.  In 
contrast  with  the  selfishness  and  inhumanity 
of  the  pagans  who  avoided  their  friends  that 
were  stricken  with  the  plague  and  cast  the 
half-dead  into  the  streets,  the  Christians  took 
the  diseased  to  their  homes  and  by  their  ex- 
ceeding great  love  attended  to  their  wants 
without  fear  and  without  cessation. 

And  as  Christianity  was  ^^a  power  of  so- 
cial purification  and  reform"  during  the 
early  centuries  of  its  history,  it  has  been  in 
modern  times  *Hhe  inspiration  of  the  great 
moral  and  philanthropic  movements."  In 
whatever  direction  you  look  you  will  find  it 
associated  with  superiority  and  power.  It 
is  revolutionizing  the  social  and  moral  ideas 
of  men  and  transforming  the  face  of  the 
earth.    It  lies  at  the  basis  of  the  institutions 

3  33 


Fundamentals  of  the  Cheistian  Religion. 

of  our  modern  civilization,  schools,  philan- 
thropies, literature,  goveniment,  and  la,w.  It 
has  elevated  jurisprudence,  made  govern- 
ments humane,  given  liberty  to  slaves,  and 
brought  about  the  education  of  the  masses. 
It  has  implanted  in  human  hearts  the  spirit 
of  humanity  and  has  done  much  toward  puri- 
fying the  political,  social,  and  intellectual  life 
of  the  nations.  It  has  fostered  science,  phi- 
losophy, and  art,  and  has  intertwined  itself 
with  the  best  and  highest  culture  of  the  age. 
''Christianity,  the  spirit  of  faith,  hope,  and 
love,  is  the  deep  fountain  of  modern  civiliza- 
tion. Its  inventions  are  for  the  many,  not 
for  the  few.  Its  science  is  not  hoarded,  but 
diffused.  It  elevates  the  masses,  who  every- 
where else  have  been  trampled  down.  The 
friend  of  the  people,  it  tends  to  free  schools, 
a  free  press,  a  free  government,  the  abolition 
of  slavery,  war,  vice,  and  the  amelioration  of 
society. '  '^ 

Christianity  is  the  crown  and  goal  of  all 
religions.  The  dreams  of  the  prophets  and 
sages  of  all  ages  have  been  more  than  realized 
in  the  Kingdom  of  grace  founded  by  Christ. 
"Whatever  other  faiths  hoped  to  be  and  strove 
for  has  become  a  glorious  realization  in  the 
abundance  of  life  and  fullness  of  power  of  the 

34 


Christianity  and  Other  Religions. 

Christian  revelation.  Beginning  with  beliefs 
that  to-day  are  repulsive  and  with  forms  of 
worship  that  are  grotesque,  the  religious  life 
of  the  race  has  gradually  unfolded  until  in 
Christianity  it  has  reached  a  pure  and  lofty 
faith.  The  doctrines  and  institutions  of  the 
Christian  religion  are  the  noblest  expression 
of  the  spiritual  experience  of  mankind ;  they 
contain  a  fullness  of  truth  nowhere  else  found 
among  the  religious  faiths  of  the  earth.  And 
Christianity  includes  all  the  highest  and  no- 
blest elements  of  all  other  systems.  It  has 
taken  up  in  itself  all  the  highest  ideals,  the 
noblest  truths,  and  the  worthiest  aspirations 
of  the  race.  It  has  absorbed  whatever  there 
is  of  beauty  and  worth  in  the  spiritual  strug- 
gles of  man.  It  has  annexed  outside  elements 
and  built  them  into  its  own  life.  It  has  ap- 
propriated all  kinds  of  wholesome  and  nutri- 
tious food  wherever  found.  Virtues  grown 
on  other  soil  and  ideals  formed  by  other 
thought  have  been  grafted  on  the  Christian 
tree  and  become  an  integral  part  of  its  being. 
The  Christian  religion  has  mastered  and 
adopted  the  great  law  of  evolution  which  a 
generation  ago  was  declared  to  be  hostile  to 
it.  It  has  come  in  contact  with  the  religions 
of  the  world,  and  whatever  there  is  of  value 

35 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

in  them  it  has  claimed  as  its  own.  ^'It  be- 
came the  heir  of  the  thought  and  aspirations 
of  a  hundred  empires;  all  the  pious  senti- 
ments that  flowed  together  from  every  quar- 
ter of  the  world  helped  to  enrich  its  doctrine, 
and  to  make  it  the  great  reservoir  it  is  of  all 
the  tendencies  and  views,  even  those  most 
contrary  to  each  other,  which  are  connected 
with  religion/'  It  has  incorporated  into  itr- 
self  the  aspiration  of  Egypt,  the  mysticism  of 
Hinduism,  the  moral  earnestness  of  Judaism, 
the  beauty  of  Greece,  and  the  freedom  of  the 
Teuton.  It  has  assimilated  China's  ethical 
precepts,  Persia's  idea  of  conflict  with  evil, 
India's  law  of  sacrifice,  and  Rome's  ideal  of 
universal  empire.  This  does  not  mean,  how- 
ever, that  Christianity  is  defective  or  incom- 
plete and  must  be  repaired  by  the  addition  of 
elements  from  other  faiths.  It  does  not  mean 
that  the  Christian  religion  is  a  mosaic  made 
up  by  a  mechanical  arrangement  of  diiferent 
bits  of  truth  gathered  from  the  various  relig- 
ious fields  of  the  world.  It  does  not  mean 
that  it  is  an  eclectic  system  which  simply  con- 
tains all  the  truest  and  best  brought  to  it  by 
other  systems.  No!  It  means  merely  that 
whatever  is  good  and  admirable  in  other  reli- 
gions it  recognizes  and  uses.    It  is  no  artifi- 

36 


Christianity  and  Other  Religions. 

cial  fountain  containing'  whatever  of  trntli 
that  has  been  poured  into  it  from  other 
sources,  but  a  vast  reservoir  through  whose 
conduits  and  channels  flow  in  richest  abun- 
dance streams  of  divine  life  and  love.  The 
Christian  religion  ^  ^  is  not  an  amalgamation  of 
other  religions,  but  it  has  in  it  all  that  is 
best  and  truest  in  other  religions.  It  is  the 
white  light  that  contains  all  the  colored  rays. 
While  other  religions  have  a  relative  excel- 
lence, Christianity  is  the  absolute  religion 
that  contains  all  excellencies. ' ' 

The  question  may  here  be  raised  as  to  the 
permanency  of  Christianity.  Will  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  like  the  extrarChristian  systems, 
outlive  its  usefulness  and  be  supplanted  by  a 
higher  faith  f  Like  the  various  ethnic  relig- 
ions which  are  being  gradually  superseded, 
will  it,  too,  be  finally  outgrown  and  laid  aside? 
Is  it  but  a  passing  phase  of  the  development 
of  the  religious  life  of  the  race,  or  will  it  exist 
as  long  as  the  world  lasts?  Will  it  grow  dim 
with  age  and  sink  in  years,  or  will  it  contrQue 
to  renew  its  youth  ?  Is  it  fit  to  be  man's  guide 
through  all  the  centuries  to  come?  Has  it 
power  to  unite  all  mankind  in  one  glorious 
brotherhood?  Cert,ain  writers  regard  Chris- 
tianity as  but  one  of  the  great  religious  faiths 
37 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

of  tlie  world,  which  will,  like  all  other  relig- 
ions, ultimately  pass  away  and  become  his- 
toric. While  it  has  been  a  potent  factor  in 
the  unfolding  of  the  religious  consciousness 
of  mankind,  it  will  with  the  attainment  of  the 
intellectual  maturity  of  the  race  be  left  be- 
hind as  a  relic  of  a  bygone  age.  Voltaire  in 
his  day  predicted  that  within  a  few  decades 
Jesus  Christ  would  fall  from  the  throne  of 
His  dominion  over  the  minds  of  men.  Mat- 
thew Arnold  also  wrote  that  Christianity,  like 
eveiy  other  religion,  would  have  its  day  and 
cease.  We  do  not  believe,  however,  that  the 
Christian  religion  will  finally  exhaust  itself 
and  perish,  but  that  it  is  destined  to  be  the 
final  religion  of  mankind.  It  embodies  ele- 
ments that  are  indestructible;  it  carries 
within  itself  the  power  of  an  endless  life. 
Though  nations  grow  old  and  civilizations  be- 
come effete,  Christianity  will  become  more 
vigorous,  and  with  every  passing  century 
continue  to  prove  itself  worthy  of  a  perma- 
nent place  in  the  life  of  the  race.  It  will  never 
be  surpassed  nor  cease  from  the  earth. 

Those  who  have  studied  the  genius  of  the 
Christian  religion  affirm  that  it  is  the  most 
perfect  system  of  which  the  mind  can  con- 
38 


Chkistianity  and  Other  Religions. 

ceive  and  beyond  wbicli  humanity  can  not  go. 
Goethe  says:  ^^Let  intellectual  and  spiritual 
culture  progress,  and  the  human  mind  ex- 
pand, as  much  as  it  will ;  beyond  the  grandeur 
and  moral  elevation  of  Christianity,  as  it 
sparkles  and  shines  in  the  Gospels,  the  hu- 
man mind  will  not  advance."  Fairbairn  ex- 
claims: ^^ Religion  is  the  highest  creation  of 
spirit,  Christianity  the  highest  religion,  and 
Jesus  the  supreme  genius  of  the  world,  who 
never  has  been,  nor  can  be,  either  in  mind  or 
degree  surpassed."  Menzies  writes:  ^^The 
appearance  of  such  a  religion  forms  the  most 
momentous  epoch  of  human  history.  He  who 
brought  it  forward  must  occupy  a  unique  po- 
sition in  the  estimation  of  mankind.  It  can 
never  be  superseded."  And  George  A.  Gor- 
den  asserts  that  *' beyond  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  thought  can  not  go.  A  God  better  than 
the  Father  of  Christ  is  for  man  inconceivable. 
A  diviner  interpretation  of  human,  existence 
than  that  of  Christ  is  unimaginable.  The 
great  ideas  of  Christ— the  Kingdom  of  God, 
eternal  life,  the  universe  as  essentially  moral, 
truth  as  ultimately  personal  in  man,  in  Christ 
Himself,  and  in  God— represent  not  only  the 
highest  reach  of  spiritual  intelligence,  but 

39 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

also  the  heiglit  that  has  no  beyond.  Anything 
better  than  the  gospel  is  simply  inconceiv- 
able.''* 

The  history  of  Christianity  from  the  be- 
ginning has  been  of  such  a  character  as  to 
prove  that  it  is  destined  to  become  the  relig- 
ion of  humanity.  A  child  of  the  East,  Chris- 
tianity has  conquered  the  West  and  will  in 
turn  conquer  the  races  of  the  Orient.  Its  con- 
quest of  the  Western  nations  demonstrates  its 
ability  to  lay  all  peoples  under  tribute.  And 
the  victories  it  has  won  have  not  been  ob- 
tained by  physical  force,  but  by  moral  means. 
The  weapons  it  has  used  to  bring  whole  na- 
tions under  its  sway  and  to  carry  its  stand- 
ards to  the  ends  of  the  earth  have  been  those 
of  moral  suasion.  And  to-day  its  vitality  is 
not  less  than  when  in  the  first  centuries  of  its 
career  it  overthrew  the  pagan  religion  of  the 
Koman  Empire  and  subjugated  the  peoples  of 
Europe.  The  same  essential  qualities  which 
in  its  early  history  caused  it  to  triumph  over 
its  rivals  it  still  possesses.  Its  power  to  re- 
form the  individual  and  heal  the  distempers 
of  society  has  not  in  the  least  abated.  It  still 
is  able  to  check  the  ravages  of  licentiousness, 
intemperance,  lawlessness,  and  vice  of  every 
form.    It  curbs  passion,  subdues  pride,  chas- 

40 


Christianity  and  Other  Religions. 

tens  fierceness,  and  purifies  the  life  as  when 
in  the  vigor  of  its  youth  it  transformed  the 
lives  of  innumerable  multitudes.  As  in  its 
early  days  it  met  the  intellectual  and  moral 
demands  of  the  age  and  brought  satisfaction 
to  the  spiritual  aspirations  of  men,  so  it  still 
possesses  the  ability  to  nourish  the  springs 
of  life  and  satisfy  the  needs  of  the  soul. 
And  as  in  the  past  it  triumphed  over  other 
religious  faiths  because  it  presented  an  inter- 
pretation of  life  that  satisfied  both  the  rea- 
son and  the  conscience,  so  in  the  future  it 
will  compel  the  assent  of  the  intellect  and 
the  allegiance  of  the  heart.  The  Christian 
Church  sees  in  Christianity  the  rising  sun 
which  will  ultimately  flood  the  world  with 
light  and  life.  It  beholds  in  the  Christian 
revelation  a  new  tidal  wave  of  divine  love 
which  will  one  day  wash  the  shores  of  every 
continent  and  isle,  bringing  health  and  peace 
to  all. 

The  story  is  told  of  an  artist  who  kept  in 
his  studio  a  canvas  which  was  the  triumph  of 
his  deepest  thought  and  greatest  skill.  When 
it  was  finished  he  carefully  examined  it  and 
exclaimed:  ^^ There,  I  can  not  put  another 
touch  to  it.  So  far  a,s  my  ability  goes,  it  is 
perfect.  That  is  my  last  word  to  the  world. ' ' 
41 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

God's  revelation  of  Himself  in  Christ  was 
the  best  word  that  He  could  speak  to  the  heart 
of  humanity.  It  was  His  last  and  greatest 
gift  to  man.  All  that  God  could  do  for  the 
world  He  has  done  in  Jesus.  Christ  was 
God's  supreme  achievement  for  the  race. 
Closer  to  us  He  could  not  come.  As  the 
painter,  the  musician,  the  poet  produces  his 
noblest  work,  so  God  has  given  to  mankind  in 
His  Son  the  highest  expression  of  His  love. 
While  He  has  in  all  ages  spoken  through  His 
prophets,  the  revelation  that  shone  forQi  in 
the  face  of  Jesus  surpasses  all  other  revela- 
tions. It  was  the  utmost  effort  of  His  self- 
manifestation.  ^'Nothing  richer,  nothing 
higher,  or  better  was  possible  even  to  the  Di- 
vine Giver.''  ^^ Christ  is  the  express  image 
of  His  person  and  the  brightness  of  His 
glory." 


42 


"  God  is  a  Spirit.*'— John  4:  24. 

"*  Hear,  O  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord." 

— Deuteronomy  6 :  4. 

"God  is  the  Personal  Spirit,  perfectly  good,  who  in 
holy  love  creates,  sustains,  and  orders  all." 

— William  Newton  Clarke. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  CHRISTIAN  IDEA  OF  GOD. 

EvEKY  religion  must  be  tested  by  its  idea 
of  God.  The  beliefs  and  worship  of  every 
religious  faith  must  be  studied  in  the  light 
of  the  view  it  entertains  of  the  Being  for 
whom  it  claims  the  allegiance  of  men.  Its 
doctrine  of  God  is  the  center  from  which  all 
other  doctrines  radiate  and  to  which  they 
return.  Whether  a  religion  is  pure  or  cor- 
rupt, ennobling  or  degrading,  spiritual  or  ma- 
terial, depends  to  a  large  extent  upon  its  no- 
tion of  the  Deity.  As  certain  axioms  or  self- 
evident  truths  lie  at  the  basis  of  mathematics, 
so  one's  view  of  the  Divine  Being  lies  at  the 
root  of  his  entire  theology.  As  the  powers 
latent  in  the  seed  determine  the  quality,  form, 
and  color  of  the  plant,  so  the  idea  which  one 
entertains  of  the  Infinite  determines  his  relig- 
ious worship  and  practice.  From  his  doc- 
trine of  God  may  be  deduced  his  doctrine  of 
man,  sin,  salvation,  and  destiny.  Indeed,  it 
is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  progress  of 
45 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

human  society  and  the  growth  of  intellectual 
and  moral  culture  among  men  are  insepara- 
bly bound  up  with  their  conception  of  the 
Supreme  Being.  The  idea  which  men  possess 
of  God  is  the  most  potent  influence  that  is  at 
work  in  the  world.  Has  one  a  low  and  un- 
worthy notion  of  God?  tlien  he  has  a  low 
view  of  human  existence  and  the  soul  of 
man.  Dr.  Horatius  Bonar  says,  ^^All  wrong 
thoughts  of  God,  whether  of  the  Father,  Son, 
or  Spirit,  must  cast  a  shadow  over  the  soul 
that  entertains  them.'*  Has  one  an  exalted 
view  of  the  Infinite?  then  he  has  a  corre- 
sponding high  appreciation  of  human  life  and 
final  destiny.  One  writer  exclaims :  * '  When 
men  have  thought  of  Deity  as  capricious, 
they  have  been  superstitious ;  when  they  have 
thought  of  Him  as  inflexible,  they  have  been 
fatalists;  when  they  have  thought  of  Him 
solely  as  Supreme  Euler,  they  have  become 
servile ;  only  when  they  recognize  in  Him  that 
balance  of  love  and  law  which  together  make 
up  the  idea  of  Father,  have  they  stood  upright 
and  loyal  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  conscious 
Sonship." 

It  will  be  necessary  to  note  at  the  outset 
the  sources  from  which  the  Christian  doctrine 
of  God  is  derived.     The  principal  sources 

46 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God. 

from  which  the  Christian  conception  of  the 
Deity  is  obtained  are  two,  namely,  the  Old 
Testament  or  th.e  teachings  of  the  Hebrew 
prophets,  and  the  New  Testament  or  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  Christ  and  His  apostles. 
These  are  the  streams  that  unite  to  give  rise 
to  the  fullest  and  richest  conception  of  the 
Divine  Being  that  humanity  has  ever  had. 
These  are  the  currents  of  thought  that  come 
together  to  produce  our  noblest  idea  of  the 
Infinite.  Would  we  therefore  obtain  an  ade- 
quate appreciation  of  the  Deity  we  must  dis- 
cover the  impression  which  both  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments  give  of  His  nature  and  char- 
acter. 

The  Hebrew  Scriptures  in  a  lofty  and 
worthy  manner  sets  forth  the  character  and 
nature  of  God  and  His  relation  to  the  world 
and  human  life.  Indeed,  so  worthy  is  the 
view  which  the  Old  Testament  gives  of  Him 
that  it  has  become  a  permanent  possession 
of  the  spiritual  experience  of  mankind.  It 
represents  Him  as  a  personal,  omnipotent, 
and  all-wise  Being,  the  Maker  of  the  universe 
and  the  Creator  of  man.  It  reveals  Him  as 
One  who  is  infinite  in  power,  unchangeable 
in  purpose,  perfect  in  knowledge,  and  inef- 
fable in  holiness.    According  to  the  Hebrew 

47 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

prophet  the  two  dominant  qualities  of  God 
are  His  unity  and  holiness— the  former  con- 
serving His  absoluteness,  independence,  and 
supremacy,  the  latter  His  righteousness,  jus- 
tice, and  truth. 

Professor  Flint  in  his  *^ Agnosticism" 
says  that  in  the  Old  Testament  ''the  Grod  of 
Israel  is  represented  as  the  only  true  God,  the 
Maker  and  Euler  of  heaven  and  earth ;  as  no 
mere  essence  or  substance,  or  force  or  law, 
but  a  self,  a  person;  as  possessing  all  the 
characteristics  of  personality,  namely,  life, 
knowledge,  affection,  will,  yet  a,s  possessing 
them  without  the  limits  or  defects  peculiar 
to  created  and  infinite  beings.  There,  while 
to  God  is  ascribed  in  common  with  man  intel- 
ligence or  knowledge,  there  are  also  ascribed 
to  Him  in  contradistinction  to  man  omnis- 
cience and  perfect  wisdom.  There,  while  to 
God  is  ascribed  in  common  with  man  affec- 
tion, there  is  also  ascribed  to  Him  in  contra- 
distinction to  man  pure  and  perfect  goodness. 
There,  while  to  God  is  ascribed  in  common 
with  man  will,  there  are  also  ascribed  to  Him 
in  contradistinction  to  man  omnipotence,  im- 
mutability, entire  truthfulness,  perfect  and 
immutable  rectitude,  absolute  moral  purity.''^ 

The  New  Testament  doctrine  of  the  Deity 
48 


The  Chkistian  Idea  of  God. 

^^  rests  upon  and  carries  forward  to  its  com- 
pletion'' tlie  Old  Testament  conception  of 
Him.  Thie  God  of  the  Jewish  religion  is  es- 
sentially the  God  of  the  Christian  religion. 
^'The  Christian  conception  of  God  was,  of 
course,  the  legitimate  and  lineal  descendant 
of  the  Hebrew;  it  took  np,  that  is,  the  relig- 
ious tradition  of  humanity,  in  the  purest 
form  that  it  had  attained. ' '  We  have  already 
seen  that  the  Jews  when  Christ  appeared 
among  them  were  in  possession  of  lofty 
theistic  ideas;  God  had  revealed  Himself  to 
them  as  He  had  to  no  other  people.  And  the 
views  that  were  prevalent  among  the  Jews 
respecting  the  Divine  Being  are  approved  of 
and  adopted  by  Christ.  He  does  not  supplant 
the  ancient  doctrine  of  God  by  any  new  con- 
ception, nor  does  He  ascribe  to  Him  attributes 
other  than  those  ascribed  to  Him  in  the  He^ 
brew  Scriptures.  "While  by  the  proclamation 
of  a  larger  truth  He  sets  aside  much  which 
those  of  old  time  had  taught.  He  accepts  the 
idea  of  the  Infinite  which  He  had  inherited 
from  the  ancient  religion.  Indeed,  so  fully 
does  Christ  accept  the  view  of  the  Deity 
which  He  found  current  among  His  people 
and  so  completely  does  He  incorporate  it  into 
His  own  teaching,  that  Christianity  has  been 
4  49 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

defined  as  ^4he  blossom  and  fruit  of  the  true 
worship  of  God  in  Israel." 

To  be  sure  Jesus  gives  to  the  idea  of  G-od 
a  fuller  meaning  than  it  ever  before  pos- 
sessed. He  puts  an  end  to  the  limitations 
with  which  it  was  hedged  about  by  Jewish 
exclusiveness.  As  every  age  enriches  by  its 
own  thought  and  life  the  ideas  which  it  inher- 
its from  the  past^  so  Christ  enriches  by  His 
own  inner  experience  the  doctrine  of  God 
which  He  inherited  from  Jewish  prophet  and 
sage.  ^^He  uses  the  terms  about  God  found 
in  the  sacred  writings  of  His  people,  coins  no 
novel  ones,  but  gives  to  the  ancient  words  all 
the  force  of  a  new  truth  which  He  had  worked 
out  for  Himself,  and  tested  and  tried  by  His 
own  heart's  experience."  With  His  deeper 
moral  insight  into  the  divine  nature  He 
brings  to  man  a  larger  and  richer  conception 
of  thei  Divine  Being  than  had  ever  been  pos- 
sessed by  the  prophets  of  the  old  covenant. 
On  the  lips  of  Jesus  the  doctrine  of  God  re- 
ceives a  rich  spiritual  content,  while  at  the 
same  time  it  becomes  associated  with  the  eth- 
ical and  religious  needs  of  the  soul.  With  the 
fuller  interpretation  that  Christ  gives  of  the 
mind  of  the  Infinite  we  see  in  the  divine  face 
new  beauties  and  catch  clearer  visions  of  His 

50 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God. 

glory.  The  Being  for  whom  Christ  claims  the 
veineration  and  love  of  men  is  One  who  meets 
the  ideals  of  the  will,  the  demands  of  the  con- 
science, and  the  cravings  of  the  heart. 

It  must,  however,  not  be  overlooked  that 
the  Christian  religion  nowhere  undertakes 
to  demonstrate  the  ecKistence  of  Grod,  but  as- 
sumes it  as  a  thing  already  believed  in  and 
accepted.  Christianity  offers  no  proofs  for 
the  reality  of  the  Infinite,  but  seeks  to  unfold 
His  nature  and  character.  To  speculate  con- 
cerning the  nature  of  God  or  to*  present  argu- 
ments for  His  existence  is  a  thing  wholly  for- 
eign to  the  writers  of  the  Bible.  The  evi- 
dences for  the  reality  of  the  Divine  Being  as 
used  by  theologians  are  nowhere  to  be  found 
in  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  '  One  seeks  in  vain 
for  the  ^^a  priori"  and  ^^a  posteriori'*  proofs 
of  the  Deity  which  have  been  so  widely  used 
by  theistic  writers.  No  trace  of  the  argument 
based  on  the  world  as  an  effect,  the  marks  of 
order  and  intelligence  in  the  universe,  the 
moral  nature  of  man,  is  here  to  be  discovered. 
To  the  Biblical  writer  no  truth  is  more  real 
than  that  God  exists.  It  is  said  of  Christ  tha.t 
^'He  moves  in  a  region  of  absolute  certainty, 
speaking  of  God  with  the  confidence  of  one 
who  possesses  the  most  intimate  relations 

51 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

with  Him. ' '  And  what  is  true  of  Jesus  is  true 
to  a  lesser  degree  of  prophet  and  apostle^ 
From  the  sublime  declaration  of  the  opening 
words  of  divine  revelation,  ' '  In  the  beginning 
God  ereiated  the  heavens  and  the  earth,"  to 
the  closing  words  of  prophecy  God  is  pre^ 
sented  as  the  living  One  who-  is  the  sole  source 
and  sustainer  of  all  eixistence  and  who  has  en- 
tered into  personal  relations  of  grace  with 
men. 

It  will  scarcely  be  necessary  to  state  that 
we  do  not  here  seek  to  give  an  exhaustive  dis- 
cussion of  the  divine  nature  and  character; 
indeed,  such  a  treatment  would  far  exceed 
the  limits  of  this  brief  essay.  Our  purpose 
is  not  to  give  a  complete  enumeration  of  the 
attributes  of  the  Infinite,  but  to  discuss  briefly 
certain  of  the  more  fundamental  characteris- 
tics of  His  nature.  We  purpose  to  seize  upon 
certain  vital  elements  of  the  character  of  the 
Deity  which  will  serve  as  typical  aspects  of 
His  entire  being.  Our  aim,  moreover,  is  not 
to  formulate  an  all-inclusive  definition  of 
God.  Indeed,  such  a  definition  is  absolutely 
impossible.  The  ideas  concerning  God  to 
which  the  Christian  religion  stands  pledged 
are  too  vast  to  be  compressed  into  a.  single 
statement.  No  effort  to  gather  up  into^  a  sin- 
52 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God. 

gle  thought  the  essential  marks  of  the  concep- 
tion of  the  Divine  Being  which  Christ  has 
given  us  can  he  wholly  successful.  It  will  he 
enough  for  us  if  we  think  of  God  as  a  personal 
Spirit,  who  is  unchangeahle  in  His  being,  in- 
finitely powerful,  wise,  and  good,  the  Creator 
of  the  world,  and  the  Father  of  men. 

The  Christian  idea  of  God  includes  the 
attribute  of  unity.  Christianity  affirms  that 
there  is  but  one  God,  who  is  the  supreme  ob- 
ject of  adoration  and  worship,  obedience  and 
love.  By  the  unity  of  God  we  mean  that  there 
is  but  one  infinite  and  eternal  Spirit  whose 
nature  is  indivisible.  This  truth  first  pro- 
clamied  on  the  soil  of  Israel  is  the  central  idea 
of  the  Christian  religion.  The  pronounced 
monotheistic  tone  of  the  opening  words  of 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures  is  with  increasing 
emphasis  carried  through  the  entire  Bible. 
^'Hear,  0  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  is  one 
Lord,"  is  not  only  the  lofty  and  regnant  idea 
of  the  entire  history  of  the  Jewish  people, 
but  one  which  lies  at  the  very  root  of  the 
Christian  revelation.  Confining  our  thought 
to  the  Old  Testament  we  discover  that  it  is 
so  insistent  upon  the  enforcement  of  the  doc- 
trine of  the  divine  unity  that  an  inhibition  is 
placed  upon  the  worship  of  gods  other  than 
53 


Fundamentals  of  the  Cheistian"  Eeligion. 

Jehovali.  Sacrifices  must  be  offered  and  wor- 
ship rendered  to  Him  alone ;  He  will  brook  no 
rivals  or  competitors.  '^Tbou  sbalt  have  no 
other  gods  before  Me"  is  the  impressive  in- 
junction placed  at  the  head  of  the  greatest 
moral  code  ever  given  to  the  world. 

The  New  Testament  equally  with  the  Old 
proclaims  that  God  is  one.  The  unity  of  God 
is  a  thought  which  finds  constant  expression 
on  the  lips  of  Jesus  Christ.  To  be  sure  the 
teaching  of  Jesus  concerning  the  Deity  is  eth- 
ical and  religious  rather  than  metaphysical, 
and  centers  around  the  idea  of  Fatherhood. 
The  attributes  of  God  which  Jesus  knows  are 
those  of  goodness,  beneficence,  and  love,  while 
the  most  fundamental  of  all  His  relations  to 
men  is  that  of  Father.  Nevertheless  Christ 
takes  up  the  idea  of  the  divine  unity  which 
He  inherited  from  the  past,  and  which  we  have 
seen  to  be  the  dominant  conception  of  the  He- 
brew religion,  and  incorporates  it  into  His 
own  teaching.  Many  of  His  words  convey  no 
meaning  unless  we  assume  that  to  Him  the 
universe  is  the  work  of  one  indwelling  and 
Supreme  Being.  He  teaches  that  there  is  one 
God,  immortal,  invisible,  who  is  the  source  of 
all  life  and  love.  When  addressed  as  ^^Good 
Master,"  He  replies,  '* There  is  none  good 
54 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God. 

but  One,  that  is  God.'^  He  proclaims  that 
eternal  life  is  conditioned  on  a  knowledge  of 
the  one  true  God.  ''This  is  life  eternal,"  He 
says,  ''that  they  might  know  Thee  the  only 
true  God." 

The  unity  of  God  denotes  that  He  is  the 
sole  self-existent  Being,  the  originating  cause 
of  all  reality ;  no  other  being  shares  with  Him 
independent  existence.  He  alone  belongs  to 
the  rank  of  the  uncreated  and  eternal,  exist- 
ing prior  to  and  uncaused  by  all  else.  This 
implies  that  the  sum  total  of  all  existence, 
other  than  God,  has  its  source  in  Him.  He 
who  is  one  and  unoriginated  is  the  cause  of 
the  physical  universe  and  the  world  of  finite 
spirits.  The  relation  of  the  world  to  God  is 
a  relation  of  dependence.  All  things  must 
be  traced  back  to  the  divine  intelligence  and 
will  as  their  sole  source. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  unity  of 
God  excludes  distinctions  within  the  divine 
nature.  A  plurality  of  qualities  is  wholly  con- 
sistent with  oneness  of  being.  Attributes  are 
not  separate  entities,  but  phases  of  divine  ac- 
tivity or  modes  of  expression.  They  are  not 
distinct  substances  which  by  fusion  constitute 
God,  but  denote  the  mode  in  which  He  reveals 
Himself.  They  are  those  qualities  of  nature 
55 


Fundamentals  of  the  Chkistian  Religion. 

and  character  that  belong  to  the  Deity  as 
such.  They  signify  no  antagonism  or  conflict 
within,  but  disclose  the  manner  in  which  the 
Divine  Being  reveals  His  inner  life. 

The  Christian  doctrine  of  the  unity  and 
absoluteness  of  God  is  one  which  is  confirmed 
by  sound  reason  and  science.  Philosophy  and 
science  are  no  less  emphatic  in  proclaiming 
the  oneness  of  the  power  that  underlies  the 
universe  than  is  the  Christian  revelation. 
Reason  shows  that  every  system  of  thought 
must  be  a  monism;  a  pluralistic  philosophy 
is  self-contradictory  and  impossible.  Every 
philosophic  system  which  assumes  two  or 
more  principles  mutually  independent  of  one 
another  is  self-destructive.  In  the  nature  of 
the  case  there  can  be  but  one  independent 
reality;  all  other  realities  of  whatever  kind 
must  be  secondary  and  dependent.  Funda- 
mental being  must  necessarily  be  one  to  which 
all  other  existences  are  related  as  effects  or 
results.  Moreover,  all  realities  must  exist 
either  in  harmony  or  in  conflict  with  one  an- 
other. If  they  exist  in  harmony  this  is  due 
to  a  more  fundamental  reality  through  which 
the  harmony  is  made  possible.  If  they  are  in 
conflict,  chaos,  disorder,  and  anarchy  must 
be  the  inevitable  result.     Of  this,  however, 

56 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God. 

there  is  not  the  slightest  trace  in  the  physical 
universe.  As  far  as  has  been  observed  order 
and  law  eveiywhere  prevail  throughout  the 
visible  world. 

If  philosophy  proclaims  that  there  can  be 
but  one  infinite  Being,  science  also  announces 
that  the  physical  world  is  under  the  dominion 
of  on^  basal  reality.  Everywhere  throughout 
the  vast  universe  with  its  systems  and  suns, 
its  motions  and  laws,  we  detect  the  presence 
of  a  single  fundamental  Being.  The  world 
carries  within  itself  a  structure  which  pro- 
claims that  it  is  the  product  of  a  single  cause. 
^'Everywhere  the  minds  of  men  are  opening 
to  the  conception  that,  whatever  else  the  uni- 
verse is,  it  is  one— one  set  of  laws  holds  the 
whole  together— one  order  reigns  through 
all. ' '  Indeed,  were  the  universe  other  than  a 
system  of  absolute  and  unchangeable  laws 
science  would  utterly  perish  from  the  face  of 
the  earth.  Could  the  laws  of  nature  be  di- 
verted or  turned  aside  scientific  investigation 
would  immediately  come  to  an  end.  Physical 
science  can  proceed  only  on  the  assumption 
that  the  universe  is  not  a  chaos  but  a  cosmos, 
a  single  system  in  which  law  and  order  pre- 
vail, a  connected  order  of  facts  and  relations. 
And  what  science  assumes  experience  oon- 
57 


Fundamentals  of  the  Chkistian  Eeligion. 

firms.  The  more  the  imiverse  is  studied,  the 
clearer  does  it  become  evident  that  it  is  a  sys- 
tem in  which  harmony  dwells,  an  order  of 
rational  and  unalterable  principles. 

Now,  it  is  obvious  that  a  system  of  in- 
teracting members,  such  as  we  have  seen 
the  world  to  be,  is  rendered  possible  only  in 
and  through  a  single  unifying  principle.  In 
no  other  way  can  such  an  order  be  produced 
and  maintained.  As  mental  phenomena  are 
brought  together  into  the  unity  of  a  personal 
life  by  the  one  indivisible  psychical  agent,  so 
physical  nature  as  a  system  of  relations  is 
the  work  of  a  single  constructive  activity. 
And  such  a  principle  must  necessarily  be  not 
blind  and  unconscious  force  as  some  have  held, 
but  a  living,  self-conscious  Spiritw  Mr.  Green 
says,  '  ^  The  understanding  which  presents  an 
order  of  nature  to  us  is  in  principle  one  with 
an  understanding  which  constitutes  that  or- 
der itself. '  ^  The  sole  power  capable  of  estab- 
lishing such  an  order  or  of  uniting  the  many 
into  the  one  must  be  an  intelligent  and  all- 
powerful  Mind.  This  power  or  basal  reality 
is  God.  It  is  by  the  unity  and  creative  energy 
of  the  Divine  Being  that  the  world  as  a  sys- 
tem of  fixed  relations  has  been  produced. 
God  is  that  unitary  Being  who  is  the  inde- 
58 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God. 

pendent  ground  of  the  universe  and  who  has 
brought  all  things  together  in  one  all-embrac- 
ing whole.  The  Christian  doctrine  of  the  ab- 
soluteness and  unity  of  the  Infinite  is  thus  in 
a  remarkable  manner  confirmed  by  modern 
physical  science. 

Christianity  affirms  that  Grod  is  a  personal 
Spirit,  This  conception  of  God  has  ever  been 
held  by  the  Christian  religion  as  one  of  its 
most  fundamental  truths.  When  we  say  that 
God  is  a  Spirit  we  mean  that  He  is  a  self- 
conscious  and  self-directing  Being,  one  who 
knows  Himself  as  God  and  who  directs  His 
own  acts.  God  is  a  mind,  an  intelligence,  One 
who  thinks  and  feels  and  wills.  ^^The  solid 
and  necessary  ground  of  religion  is  the  assur- 
ance that  God  is  a  person  who  thinks  and 
loves. '^  And  such  a  Being  stands  in  contrast 
with  matter.  Whatever  the  essence  of  matter 
may  be,  however  it  may  be  defined,  God  is  not 
the  material  universe  nor  is  He  dependent 
upon  it.  The  qualities  that  we  associate  with 
the  material  world  are  in  no  way  to  be  identi- 
fied with  the  attributes  of  the  Infinite.  God  is 
other  than  material  things,  for  He  possesses 
powers  of  thought,  affection,  and  will.  These 
are  the  essential  qualities  of  a  spirit,  and  it  is 
by  them  we  know  what  God  is.  *^God  is 
59 


Fundamentals  of  the  Cheistian  Eeligion. 

spirit,  for  spirit  is  essential  Life,  and  essen- 
tial Energy,  and  essential  Love,  and  essential 
Thought ;  in  a  word,  essential  Person. ' ' 

Since  God  is  defined  in  terms  of  spirit 
He  can  not  be  perceived  by  the  senses,  as 
material  objects  are.  A  physical  proof  of 
Him  is  out  of  the  question,  for  He  does  not 
come  within  the  range  of  observation.  No 
man  hath  seen  Grod  at  any  time.  ^'God  is 
above  sensuous  perception;  in  other  words, 
He  is  not  a  material  being.''  It  is  true  that 
men  have  searched  for  Him  among  physical 
objects,  but  such  a  quest  has  been  as  fruit- 
less as  it  has  been  absurd.  La  Place  has 
informed  us  that  he  swept  the  heavens  with 
his  telescope  but  found  no  God.  President 
Sawyer,  in  reply,  says,  ^^He  might  just  as 
well  have  swept  his  kitchen  with  a  broom.'' 
It  would  be  as  reasonable  to  seek  the  artist 
among  his  pictures  or  the  author  among  his 
books  as  to  search  for  God  among  material 
things.  God  is  not  an  object  among  objects, 
but  a  Spirit  whose  essence  is  life,  thought, 
and  love. 

The  spirituality  of  the  power  that  under- 
lies the  world  is  a  necessary  postulate  of 
science  as  well  as  of  religion.  It  has  come 
to  be  seen  that  the  phenomena  and  laws  of 
60 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God. 

the  universe  are  not  material  in  their  nature, 
but  spiritual.  The  physical  world  is  not  com- 
posed of  dead,  inert  matter,  but  is  the  ex- 
pression of  mind.  The  universe  is  an  intel- 
lectual system  which  existed  prior  to  the  ad- 
vent of  man,  and  which  will  continue  after 
he  has  ceased  to  be.  As  printed  words  are 
symbols  expressing  finite  thought,  so  physical 
phenomena  are  symbols  expressing  infinite 
thought.  Indeed,  were  nature  other  than,  a 
system  of  thought  and  incapable  of  being  ex- 
pressed in  terms  of  human  speech,  there  could 
be  no  response  between  her  and  the  soul  of 
man  and  she  would  forever  remain  unknown. 
"Were  she  a  chaos,  an  irrational  system,  ir- 
responsive to  the  thinking  self,  she  would 
exist  unvalued  and  unappreciated.  Did  not 
the  laws  and  structure  of  things  correspond 
to  the  laws  and  structure  of  the  human  mind 
we  could  not  know  them.  Thought  can  in- 
terpret only  thought;  it  can  grasp  only  that 
which  is  fundamentally  like  itself.  And  since 
the  universe  is  a  system  of  ideas,  it  must 
be  the  product  of  an  intelligent  and  operative 
Spirit.  Since  it  is  a  rational  order,  capable  of 
of  being  understood  by  the  human  soul,  it 
must  be  the  work  of  a  Mind  similar  to  our 
own.    The  rationality  of  the  universe  is  to 

61 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

us  irrefutable  evidence  that  it  has  its  source 
in  infinite  mind  and  will.  Professor  Baden 
Powell  writes ;  ^ '  That  which  requires  reason 
and  thought  to  understand  must  be  itself 
thought  and  reason.  That  which  mind  alone 
can  investigate  or  express  must  be  itself 
mind.  And  if  the  highest  conception  attained 
is  but  partial,  then  the  mind  and  reason 
studied  is  greater  than  the  mind  and  reason 
of  the  student.  If  the  more  it  is  studied  the 
more  vast  and  complex  is  the  necessary  con- 
nection in  reason  disclosed,  then  the  more 
evident  is  the  vast  extent  and  compass  of 
the  reason  thus  partially  manifested  and  its 
reality  as  existing  in  the  immutably  connected 
order  of  objects  examined,  independently  of 
the  mind  of  the  investigator.'' 

The  Christian  conception  of  God  embraces 
the  attribute  of  omnipresence.  That  God  is 
present  in  His  creation,  upholding  and  con- 
trolling it,  is  an  idea  which  runs  through  the 
entire  Scriptures.  The  Christian  religion  has 
never  failed  to  emphasize  the  universal  pres- 
ence of  God  both  in  the  physical  universe  and 
in  the  life  of  man.  God  as  a  Spirit  who  per- 
vades and  inspires  the  world  which  He  Him- 
self has  made  is  one  of  the  most  fundamental 
truths  of  Christianity.  No  truth  has  been 
62 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God. 

more  real  to  the  Christian  than  that  the  In- 
finite is  unfailingly  near,  directing  the  move- 
ments of  the  physical  order  and  guiding  it  to 
its  end.  Christian  faith  affirms  that  God,  who 
is  the  efficient  cause  of  the  material  world, 
inhabits  and  sustains  it  in  its  every  ongoing. 
It  teaches  that  the  tangible,  visible  things 
of  creation  are  the  work  of  an  indwelling, 
intelligent,  and  free  Spirit. 

There  are  few  passages  in  the  Sacred 
Scriptures  which  are  more  sublime  than  those 
which  affirm  the  universal  nearness  or  omni- 
presence of  the  Almighty.  By  Biblical  writ- 
eTS  God  is  conceived  of  as  everywhere  pres- 
ent ;  there  is  no  place  where  He  is  not.  It  is 
absolutely  impossible  to  go  beyond  the  bounds 
of  His  presence,  for  it  fills  heaven  and  earth. 
The  heaven  and  the  heaven  of  heavens  can 
not  contain  Him.  ^^The  eyes  of  the  Lord 
are  in  every  place,  beholding  the  evil  and  the 
good.''  ^'Thus  saitli  the  Lord,  the  heaven 
is  My  throne,  and  the  earth  is  My  footstool." 
*^Can  any  hide  hhnself  in  secret  places  that 
I  shall  not  see  him?  saith  the  Lord.  Do  not 
I  fill  heaven  and  earth?  said  the  Lord.''  It 
is  '^in  Him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our 
being." 

One  of  the  most  sublime  declarations  of 
63 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  EeligioKc 

the  omnipresence  of  God  is  found  in  Psalm 
139.  To  the  psalmist  God  is  one  who  knows 
his  thoughts,  who  is  acquainted  with  his  ways, 
and  from  whose  presence  he  can  not  flee. 
''AVhither/'  he  says,  ''shall  I  go  from  Thy 
Spirit?  or  whither  shall  I  flee  from  Thy 
presence?  If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven.  Thou 
art  there;  if  I  make  my  bed  in  hell,  behold. 
Thou  art  there.  If  I  take  the  wings  of  the 
morning,  and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  sea;  even  there  shall  Thy  hand  lead  me, 
and  Thy  right  hand  shall  hold  me.''  So 
thoroughly  impressed  were  the  writers  of  the 
Old  Testament  with  the  idea  of  the  divine 
omnipresence  that  they  everywhere  saw  man- 
ifestations of  the  divine  power.  Tlie  Hebrew 
writer  conceived  of  God  as  the  immediate 
cause  of  all  the  laws  and  movements  of  phys- 
ical nature.  Both  i^rophet  and  poet  dramat- 
ically pictured  Him  as  present  in  all  the  on- 
goings of  the  material  world.  He  speaks  in 
the  thunder.  His  voice  shaketh  the  wilder- 
ness, His  chariots  move  in  the  tops  of  the 
tall  mulberry  trees.  He  sitteth  upon  the  circle 
of  the  earth.  He  maketh  the  clouds  His 
chariot,  and  He  rideth  upon  the  wings  of  the 
wind. 

Dr.   Arthur  T.   Pierson   says:    ''In  the 
64 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God. 

Twenty-nintli  Psalm,  the  psalm  of  nature,  all 
creation  is  figuratively  viewed  as  God's 
temple,  the  vast  cathedral  where  He  is 
throned,  and  all  the  forces  of  the  material 
universe  are  vocal  with  His  praise.  The 
boom  of  the  great  waters  sounds  the  deep 
diapason,  the  gentle  breezes  breathe  melodies, 
and  the  peal  of  the  thunders  rolls  its  pedal 
bass,  while  cyclones  and  whirlwinds  add 
majesty  to  the  chorus.  Lightnings  flash  like 
electric  lamps,  and  giant  oaks  and  immortal 
cedars  bow  like  worshipers.  In  this  psalm 
of  nature  it  is  declared  that  ^In  His  temple 
everything  doth  shout  glorjM'  ^'^ 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that 
God  is  everywhere  present  and  fills  all  space 
in  the  sense  in  which  matter  fills  space.  God 
is  not  diffused  throughout  the  universe  as  is 
the  all-pervading  ether.  He  is  not  an  attenu- 
ated essence  which  is  universally  present  like 
ethereal  substance.  As  He  can  not  be  con- 
ceived of  as  a  sensible  object— that  is,  as  a 
bulky  or  extended  substance— the  notion  of 
presence  which  belongs  to  space^fiUing  ob- 
jects can  not  be  applied  to  Him.  Did  God 
fill  space,  His  unity  would  be  destroyed  and 
the  conception  of  omnipresence  would  be  re- 
duced to  absurdity.    To  escape  the  many  con- 

5  65 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

tradictions  audi  absurdities  involved  in  the 
idea  of  the  omnipresence  of  an  extended  sub- 
stance, the  nature  of  fundamental  being  must 
be  defined  in  terms  of  activity  instead  of  in 
terms  of  bulk.  The  divine  presence  then 
comes  to  mean  the  divine  activity.  iVnd  since 
the  measure  or  extent  of  the  activity  of  God 
is  unlimited,  His  presence  is  universal.  When 
we  say  that  God  is  everjnvhere  present  we 
mean  that  He  is  not  subject  to  spatial  limi- 
tations, but  has  power  to  act  upon  the  whole 
of  creation.  As  the  human  soul  is  present 
in  all  its  mental  states  because  it  is  their 
constant  source,  so  God  is  present  in  the 
world  because  He  is  its  sole  cause.  Indeed, 
the  human  mind,  which  in  its  unity  is  present 
in  all  its  thoughts,  is  the  best  analogue  of 
the  divine  omnipresence.  God  thus  does  not 
move  from  jDlace  to  place  to  etfect  things  or 
execute  His  will,  for  since  He  acts  on  all 
alike  He  is  equally  present  to  all.  He  can  not 
be  said  to  be  here  or  there,  far  or  near;  He 
surrounds  us  on  all  sides  like  the  air  and 
the  blue  of  the  sky.  He  is  everywhere  pres- 
ent, for  He  is  the  abiding  source  and  sus- 
taining power  of  all  existence. 

The  Christian  doctrine  of  the  divine  omni- 
presence must  not  be  confounded  with  Pan- 

6Q 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God. 

theisni.  The  Christian  religion  teaches  that 
God,  the  Author  and  ever-present  Life  of  the 
universe,  is  personal  and  free,  while  Panthe- 
ism holds  that  God  and  the  world  are  one. 
In  other  words,  Christianity  affirms  both  the 
immanence  and  the  transcendence  of  God, 
while  Pantheism  denies  the  latter.  Panthe- 
istic thought  ^^may  recognize  a  spirit-life  at 
the  foundation  of  all  things,  but  it  denies  that 
this  principle  of  the  world  is  conscious  or 
personal."  But  while  God  is  the  immanent 
power  and  operative  will  of  the  physical 
realm,  He  is  other  and  greater  than  His  work. 
He  is  not  exhausted  in  the  world  which  He 
has  made,  but  is  its  Master,  transcending,  con- 
trolling, and  directing  it.  He  is  not  absorbed 
in  the  universe  which  He  has  created,  but  sur- 
passes it  and  is  independent  of  its  limitations. 
Neither  the  Christian  revelation  nor  sound 
philosophy  permits  any  relation  of  the  world 
to  God  which  identifies  the  two.  An  identifi- 
cation of  the  Infinite  with  physical  nature  is 
as  repugnant  to  sane  thought  as  it  is  to  the 
Christian  faith.  The  world  is  the  work  of  the 
free  activity  of  the  Divine  Being,  and  is  not 
the  full  and  necessary  expression  of  His 
power. 

Modern  thought,  equally  with  Christian- 

67 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

ity,  affirms  that  Grod  is  ever}n;\rliere  present  in 
the  laws  and  phenomena  of  nature,  operating 
from  within  and  carrying  forward  His  pur- 
pose. A  change  has  taken  place  in  recent 
times  as  to  the  manner  in  which  the  world 
is  governed.  During  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries  Grod  was  conceived  of  as 
external  to  His  work,  which  was  said  to  be 
controlled  by  inherent  laws.  It  wa,s  declared 
that  God,  having  made  the  world,  placed  it 
under  immutable  law  and  withdrew,  leaving 
it  to  administer  itself.  Such  a  view  of  God's 
relation  to  the  universe  has  happily  passed 
away,  and  it  is  now  seen  that  God  inhabits 
the  world  and  governs  it  from  within.  The 
conception  of  an  absentee  God  and  a  self- 
running  nature  has  been  definitely  set  aside. 
God  who  worketh  hitherto,  still  worketh,  and 
shall  forever  work.  ^^It  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  this  doctrine  of  the  immanence  of  the 
transcendent  God  in  nature— no  new  doctrine, 
be  it  observed,  to  Christianity— has  trans- 
formed within  a  lifetime  the  philosophy  of 
causation  in  natural  science,  and  has  fused 
it  with  idealism."  We  have  come  to  learn 
that  nature  is  full  of  the  activitj^  of  God.  The 
entire  universe  is  the  work  of  the  Infinite, 
the  mode  of  His  self-expression.    The  divers 

68 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God. 

traces  of  wisdom  and  skill  everywhere  pres- 
ent in  the  structure  and  administration  of 
the  world  are  the  manifestation  of  an  in- 
dwelling mind.  The  evolution  of  the  inor- 
ganic and  organic  realms,  the  continuity  of 
nature,  the  laws  and  forces  resident  in  the 
objective  order  are  the  thought  and  energy 
of  the  Infinite.  The  splendor  of  the  midnight 
heavens,  the  glory  of  the  rising  and  the  set- 
ting sun,  and  the  grandeur  of  the  snow- 
capped mountain  peak  are  the  outflow  of  the 
life  of  God.  His  way  is  in  the  sea  and  His 
path  in  the  great  waters.  He  is  in  the  purple 
of  the  violet,  the  song  of  the  bird,  the  golden 
fruitage  of  autumn,  and  the  smile  of  a  little 
child.  The  roar  of  the  ocean,  the  murmur 
of  the  wind,  and  the  laughter  of  the  bubbling 
stream  are  His  voice.  He  guides  the  comet 
in  its  orbit.  He  directs  the  path  of  the  bird 
on  its  homeward  way,  and  He  is  present  in 
every  dewdrop  that  clings  to  flower  and  leaf. 
The  Christian  religion  afSrms  the  omnipo- 
tence of  God.  Both  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments exhibit  God  as  One  who  is  infinite  in 
power  or  as  being  able  to  do  whatever  He 
wills.  By  Hebrew  writers  God  is  called  the 
Almighty,  a  name  which  implies  unlimited 
or   infinite   ability.     ^  *  Omnipotence,   in  the 

69 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

Cliristian  doctrine,  is  adequate  ability.  It  is 
the  sufficiency  of  God.  This  brief  definition 
declares  that  God  is  equal  in  power  to  all 
possible  demands  of  His  universe  upon 
Him.''  It  is  the  perfect  ability  of  the  In- 
finite to  do  all  that  accords  with  His  nature 
and  character.  The  omnipotence  of  God  ap- 
pears from  the  vastness  of  the  universe, 
which  is  attributed  to  Him  as  His  work. 
Christian  thought  asserts  that  God  created, 
sustains,  and  controls  the  world.  To  be  sure, 
we  can  not  strictly  infer  that  the  Creator  of 
the  universe  is  infinite  in  power  since  the 
universal  itself  is  a  finite  system.  From  the 
data  which  the  finite  and  the  relative  present 
we  can  not  deduce  the  omnipotent  and  the 
absolute.  A  finite  system  does  not  neces- 
sarily imply  an  all-powerful  and  infinite 
cause.  So  great,  however,  is  the  universe 
and  so  vast  the  power  necessary  for  its  cre- 
ation and  control,  that  we  think  the  Chris- 
tian religion  makes  no  presumptuous  claim 
when  it  affirms  the  unlimited  power  and  self- 
sufficiency  of  its  Author.  Though  it  is  im- 
possible to  prove  the  omnipotence  of  God,  yet 
it  is  not  unreasonable  to  infer  that  He  who 
has  scattered  countless  systems,  galaxies  of 

70 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God. 

suns,  stars,  comets,  and  planets  throngli  the 
vast  a,bysses  of  space,  and  who  holds  them 
true  to  their  appointed  courses,  is  in  His 
power  without  limit  or  end.  How  the  Al- 
mighty has  made  the  world  and  all  tilings 
therein  is  beyond  human  knowledge.  How 
He  directs  and  controls  it  is  beyond  finite 
comiDrehension.  It  is  enough  for  us  to  know 
that  He  is  equal  to  the  task.  It  is  the  Lord, 
the  everlasting  God,  who  is  the  Creator  of 
the  ends  of  the  earth  and  who,  in  the  or- 
dering of  all  that  is,  fainteth  not,  neither  is 
weary. 

It  must,  however,  be  borne  in  mind  that 
omnipotence  does  not  mean  the  ability  of  the 
Infinite  to  do  that  which  is  a  contradiction 
in  itself  or  contradictory  to  His  nature.  The 
divine  power  must  harmonize  with  the  divine 
character  and  reason.  Whatever  does  not 
accord  with  the  perfection  of  God  lies  outside 
the  scope  of  His  ability.  There  are  limits 
to  His  power  imposed,  not  from  without,  but 
by  His  own  being,  which  makes  it  impossible 
for  Him  to  contradict  Himself.  God  can  not 
lie  or  make  wrong  to  be  right.  He  can  not 
create  a  world  in  which  two  and  two  make 
five,  or  one  in  which  the  whole  is  less  than 
71 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

its  part.  All  tliat  the  rational  thought  and 
perfection  of  God  demand  He  can  perform, 
but  not  that  which  implies  an  essential  con- 
tradiction. 

Apart  from  the  light  which  the  Christian 
revelation  sheds  upon  our  knowledge  of  the 
power  of  the  Infinite,  we  might  well  ask. 
Who  but  an  Omnipotent  Being  could  have 
made  the  world?  Who  but  a  God  of  infinite 
might  could  have  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
earth  and  established  the  sun,  and  moon,  and 
all  the  stars  of  light?  Who  but  such  a  Power 
stretcheth  out  the  North  over  the  empty 
spaces  and  hangeth  the  earth  upon  nothing. 
Who.  but  the  Infinite  bindeth  the  cluster  of 
the  Pleiades  and  looseth  the  bands  of  Orion? 
What  answer  shall  we  give  unless  we  say, 
God? 

"  Motionless  torrents  1  silent  cataracts  I 
Who  made  you  glorious  as  the  gates  of  heaven 
Beneath  the  keen  full  moon?    AVho  bade  the  sun 
Clothe  you  with  rainbows?    Who,  with  living  flowers 
Of  loveliest  blue,  spread  garlands  at  your  feet? 

'  God  1 '  let  the  torrents,  like  a  shout  of  nations 
Answer !    and  let  the  ice  plains  echo,  '  God  ! ' 
*  God ! '  sing  ye  meadow  streams  with  gladsome  voice  ; 
Ye  pine  gi-oves  with  your  soft  and  soul-like  sounds ; 
And  they  too  have  a  voice,  yon  piles  of  snow. 
And  in  their  perilous  fall  shall  thunder,  *  God  I ' 

72 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God. 

Ye  living  flowers  that  skirt  the  eternal  frost ! 
Ye  wild  goats,  sporting  round  the  eagle's  nest ! 
Ye  eagles,  playmates  of  the  mountain  storm! 
Ye  lightnings,  the  dread  arrows  of  the  clouds  I 
Ye  signs  and  wonders  of  the  elements! 
Utter  forth  *  God  I '  and  fill  the  hills  with  praise." 

The  Christian  revelation  affirms  the  divine 
holiness.  Negatively,  holiness  means  the  ex- 
clusion from  the  divine  character  sin,  evil, 
and  all  moral  corrnption.  It  is  spotlessness 
of  character,  stainless  purity,  sinlessness. 
Sin,  which  has  defiled  the  soul  of  man  and 
corrupted  the  springs  of  his  being,  is  abso- 
lutely absent  in  God.  He  is  the  one  sinless, 
pure,  and  perfect  Being.  Positively  holiness 
means  moral  excellence,  positive  goodness. 
*^  Holiness  is  moral  purity,  not  only  in  the 
sense  of  absence  of  all  moral  stain,  but  of 
complacency  in  all  moral  good."  All  that  is 
of  moral  worth  in  man,  all  his  conceptions 
of  right,  all  his  ideals  of  goodness,  are  real- 
ized in  the  character  and  life  of  God  to  their 
fullest  degree.  God's  holiness  thus  becomes 
moral  perfection,  the  union  of  all  the  divine 
qualities  in  harmonious  relation.  It  is  not  a 
separate  attribute  or  trait  of  character,  but 
the  sum  of  all  existing  excellencies.  It  is 
*  ^  the  union  of  all  the  attributes,  as  pure,  white 
light  is  the  union  of  all  the  colored  rays  of 
73 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

V  the  spectrum.''  ^^ Holiness  is  tlie  glorious 
fullness  of  tlie  goodness  of  God,  consistently 
held  as  the  principle  of  His  own  action,  and 
the  standard  for  His  creatures. ' ' 

SO'  impressively  is  the  divine  holiness 
taught  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  that  cer- 
tain writers  have  affirmed  that  this  attribute 
and  not  the  unity  of  God  is  the  fundamental 
idea  of  the  Old  Testament  religion.  At  any 
rate,  the  moral  character  of  the  Divine  Be- 
ing and  His  ethical  relations  to  men  are  to 
the  Jewish  mind  a  matter  of  supreme  im- 
port.^ The  idea  which  deteply  roots  itself 
in  the  consciousness  of  the  Hebrew  nation 
is  that  of  the  moral  purity  of  Jehovah.  Such 
qualities  as  justice,  holiness,  and  truth  are 

.  y  the  dominant  attributes  of  His  nature.  *  ^  God 
is  exhibited  as  One  who  seeks  to  enthrone 
righteousness  of  life— right  laws,  right  gov- 
ernment, right  administration,  right  conduct, 
right  character."  The  people  of  Israel  are 
commanded  to  purify  themselves  before  they 
come  up  to  the  mount  of  God.  Among  the 
gods  there  is  none  like  the  Lord,  ^^  glorious  in 
holiness,  fearful  in  praises,  doing  wonders." 
The  work  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,  *^For  all 
His  ways  are  judgment :  a  God  of  truth  and 
witlxout  iniquity,  just  and  right  is  He."    He 

74 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God. 

is  ^^ihe  liigli  and  lofty  One  that  inliabitetli 
eternity,  whose  name  is  Holy. '  ^ 

The  divine  holiness  is  also  traced  in  the 
ills  that  overtake  Israel  because  of  wrong- 
doing, as  well  as  in  the  blessings  bestowed 
for  virtuous  conduct.  To  the  Jew  national 
well-being  is  necessarily  bound  up  with 
righteousness;  national  disaster  is  insep- 
arably connected  with  evil.  God  is  depicted 
as  hostile  to  those  who  disobey  His  com- 
mands and  who  trample  His  laws  in  the  dust. 
And  Jehovah  has  no  favorites  or  partisans ; 
all  stand  before  Him  on  the  same  level.  The 
maintenance  of  righteousness  and  truth 
among  men  and  the  promotion  of  justice  and 
mercy  are  of  infinitely  greater  moment  to 
the  Almighty  than  the  welfare  of  even  Israel. 
He  sends  a.  fire  upon  Judah  and  visits  the 
transgressions  of  Israel  upon  them  when 
they  fail  to  render  Him  an  unswerving  obe- 
dience. He  suffers  them  to  perish  from  the 
earth  when  they  neglect  to  do  justly,  love 
mercy,  and  wajlk  humbly  witlx  God.  The 
declaration  that  Jehovah  puts  into  the  mouth 
of  His  prophet  reveals  His  character:  *^If 
ye  be  willing  and  obedient  ye  shall  eat  the 
good  of  the  land,  but  if  ye  refuse  and  rebel 
ye  shall  be  devoured  with  the  sword.''    The 

75 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

Messing  and  the  curse  ever  set  before  the 
people  and  which  was  conditioned  upon  their 
conduct  was  a  constant  reminder  of  the  moral 
integrity  of  the  Deity.  *'They  verified  His 
character  in  the  disasters  that  followed  na- 
tional corruption,  in  the  swift  recoveries  that 
rewarded  national  repentance.  In  the  mirror 
of  a  cleansed  conscience  the  prophets  saw 
the  face  of  Grod;  they  traced  His  life  in  the 
processes  of  righteousness.'' 

The  teaching  of  the  New  Testament  con- 
cerning the  holiness  of  God  is  scarcely  less 
emphatic  than  the  testimony  of  the  Old 
Testament  to  the  same  attribute  of  the  divine 
nature.  Christ  accepts  the  idea  of  the  purity 
or  moral  perfection  of  the  Infinite  and  en- 
riches it  by  His  own  thinking.  It  is  true 
that  the  lesson  of  the  moral  integrity  of  the 
Divine  Being  is  not  emphasized  by  Jesus  as 
are  other  qualities  of  the  divine  character. 
It  does  not  form  the  keynote  of  His  mes- 
sage to  men  a,s  in  the  case  of  the  ancient 
prophet.  But  though  the  idea  of  moral 
purity  is  not  the  fundamental  one  in  the 
revelation  that  Christ  gives  of  God  as  it  is 
in  the  Old  Testament  religion,  yet  it  is  con- 
stantly in  the  thought  of  Jesus  Christ.  God 
to  Christ  is  the  one  perfect  Being,  the  One 

76 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God. 

whose  cliaraeter  is  absolutely  free  from 
moral  stain  and  in  whose  life  all  attributes 
harmoniously  blend.  This  is  seen  in  Christ's 
own  unbending  loyalty  to  truth,  His  insist- 
ence on  iDurity  of  heart  in  believers,  and  in 
the  obligation  that  He  lays  on  men  to  be- 
come like  God,  perfect  as  He  is  perfect. 
^^  Jesus  of  Nazareth  revealed  a  Being  neces- 
sarily opposed  to  all  evil  and  essentially 
righteous,  true,  pure,  and  good.  All  conceiv- 
able and  all  possible  affections  dwell  in  His 
nature  and  shine  there  in  unclouded  light. 
This  God  is  Excellence,  only  Excellence,  Ex- 
cellence Infinite  and  everlasting.  The  very 
idea  of  such  a  Being  is  Divine.''^ 

The  history  of  the  nations  of  the  earth 
exhibits,  we  think,  the  holiness  of  God  as 
does  the  Christian  revelation.  We  have  come 
to  see  that  as  tliere  is  a  rational  order  in 
the  universe,  so  thea^e  is  also  a  moral  order. 
The  universe  is  morally  organized  and  gov- 
erned. As  God  is  in  the  laws  and  phenomena 
of  the  physical  world,  guiding  and  controll- 
ing them,  so  He  is  in  the  affairs  of  human 
life.  As  He  is  in  the  movements  and  proc- 
esses of  nature,  so  in  a  most  vital  way  He 
is  fulfilling  His  purpose  in  the  doings  of  hu- 
manity. ^^  History  reveals  a  moral  purpose, 
77 


4^ 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

a  process  of  disciplining,  educating,  elevat- 
ing mankind.''  Everywhere  in  tlie  world  is 
God  found  ^^  ordering  its  events,  overruling 
the  devices  of  men,  and  causing  even  their 
vain  imaginings  to  declare  His  glory."  And 
the  laws  by  which  the  physical  world  is  con- 
trolled are  not  more  fixed  and  absolute  than 
are  the  laws  which  underlie  the  moral  world. 
The  ills  which  are  linked  with  wrong- 
doing and  the  blessings  which  accompany 
virtuous  action  testify  that  the  Power  behind 
the  universe  is  one  that  makes  for  right- 
eousness. ^^Eighteous  conduct  works  out 
good  results  for  the  individual  and  for  so- 
ciety; vicious  conduct  works  out  bad  re- 
sults.'' Carlyle  says,  ^^God  sits  in  heaven 
and  does  nothing."  It  is  not  true.  To  af- 
firm that  God  does  nothing  is  to  misread 
history.  No  Being  is  more  active  in  the 
affairs  of  mortals  than  is  God.  ^  ^  The  Power 
which  is  above  all,  and  through  all,  and  in 
all  things,  is  not  only  Intelligence  and  Wis- 
dom, but  also  an  Ethical  Will."  That  God 
is  just  and  that  righteousness  is  at  the  heart 
of  things  appear  from  the  fact  that  the  na- 
tions who  love  justice  and  truth  are  in  the 
ascendency,  while  those  who  surrender  them- 
selves to  lying  and  lust  are  eventually  de- 

78 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God. 

stroyed.  The  one  profound  lesson  which'  all 
history  teaches  and  which  may  be  read  by 
every  serious  mind  is  tliat  righteousness 
makes  for  stability  and  life,  while  vice  ends 
in  disaster  and  death.  Greed  and  lawless- 
ness have  brought  about  the  downfall  of 
powerful  nations,  the  overthrow  of  great  civ- 
ilizations, and  the  destruction  of  myriads  of 
lives.  Empires  that  have  been  founded  on 
tyranny  and  violence  have  eventually  crum- 
bled into  dust.  "VYe  liave  come  to  see  that 
^'on  the  whole  and  in  the  long-run  it  is  not 
well  with  the  wicked;  that  slowly  but  surely, 
both  in  the  lives  of  individuals  and  of  na- 
tions, good  triumphs  over  evil.  And  this 
tendency  towards  righteousness,  by  which 
we  find  ourselves  encompassed,  meets  with 
a  ready  response  in  our  own  hearts.''  Just 
and  true  are  all  Thy  ways.  Thou  King  of 
kings,  is  the  testimony  of  all  mankind. 

We  have  been  told,  however,  that  the  doc- 
trine of  God  we  have  been  considering  is 
an  anthropomorphic  view  and  is  wholly  in- 
adequate to  express  the  nature  and  char- 
a,cter  of  the  Divine  Being.  It  has  been  said 
that  this  ''likens  the  creation  and  control 
of  the  world  by  God  to  the  artificial  creation 
of  a  talented  engineer  or  mechanic  and  to 
79 


Fundamentals  or  the  Christian  Religion. 

tJie  administration  of  a  wise  ruler.  God  as 
Creator,  Sustainer,  and  Ruler  of  the  world 
is  thus  represented  after  a  purely  human 
fashion  in  His  thought  and  work/'  It  was 
this  which  led  Xenophanes  to  say:  ^'The 
lions,  if  they  could  have  pictured  a  god,  would 
have  pictured  him  in  fashion  like  a  lion;  the 
horses,  like  a  horse;  the  oxen,  like  an  ox." 
Such  a  view  of  the  Deity  it  is  affirmed  de- 
grades Him,  for  it  brings  Him  down  to  the 
human  level.  He  is  conceived  of  as  a  per- 
sonal Being  and  is  reduced  to  the  category 
of  humankind.  Human  attributes,  such  as 
self-consciousness,  spirituality,  and  moral 
goodness,  are  ascribed  to  Him  and  He  be- 
comes a  man  of  colossal  proportions.  Now 
we  are  forbidden  to  posit  in  Grod  the  essen- 
tial qualities  of  the  human  mind,  since  by  do- 
ing so  we  dwarf  Him.  It  has  been  asserted 
that  whatever  may  be  the  Power  that  per- 
vades the  inscrutable  universe,  the  culti- 
vated soul  shrinks  from  dwarfing  it  tO'  the 
cramped  standard  of  anything  that  can  be 
stated  in  terms  of  human  thought. 

Though  human  qualities  are  attributed  to 
God,  we  are  nevertheless  convinced  that  such 
a,  conception  of  the  Divine  Being  is  a  worthy 
onei.    We  think  that  it  is  not  derogatory  to 

80 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God. 

tJbe  Infinite  to  conceive  of  Him  as  possess- 
ing in  infinitude  the  intellectual  and  moral 
attributes  of  man.  We  do  not  degrade  God 
when  we  affirm  that  He  is  a  Being  who  is 
self-conscious,  free,  and  moral.  Indeed,  it 
is  the  only  way  in  which  we  can  think  of 
Him ;  no  other  path  is  left  open  to  the  human 
mind.  The  Infinite  must  be  interpreted  in 
terms  of  rational  thought  if  He  is  to  be  known 
at  all,  for  this  is  man's  fundamental  endow- 
ment The  idea  of  God  itself  would  be  de- 
stroyed if  we  were  to  eliminate  from  it  every 
trace  of  anthropomorphism.  ^^If  we  are  to 
know  the  Supreme  Reality  at  all,  it  can  only 
be  through  the  attribution  to  Him  of  quali- 
ties analogous  to,  though  infinitely  tra.nscend- 
ing,  the  qualities  wliich  we  recognize  as 
highest  in  man,  and  consequently  in  the 
world  as  we  know  it.  No  otJier  procedure  is 
possible  if  we  are  to  adhere  to  the  concep- 
tion of  God  as  the  Final  Cause  of  the  world, 
i.  e,,  our  world.''  We  hold  that  to  think  of 
God  as  perfect  in  knowledge,  infinite  in 
power,  and  glorious  in  holiness  is  to  enter- 
tain the  highest  possible  notion  of  the  Deity. 

A  correct  view  of  the  essential  meaning 
of  personality  will,  we  think,  help  to  clarify 
our  thought  and  dissipate  the  misconceptions 

6  81 


Fundamentals  of  the  Cheistian  Eeligion. 

with  which  this  subject  has  become  infested. 
In  the  case  of  the  finite  mind  corporeity  is 
associated  with  personality.  The  human 
mind  unfolds  itself  in  connection  with  the 
human  body.  The  body  is  the  soul's  medium 
of  expression,  and  experience  arises  under 
spatial  and  temporal  forms.  This  of  course 
means  finiteness  and  limitation.  And  man's 
knowledge  is  not  only  limited  in  its  range, 
but  the  processes  and  methods  used  in  its 
acquisition  are  slow  and  cumbrous.  It  is  by 
sense  experience,  inference,  and  proof,  rather 
than  by  direct  insight,  that  man  obtains  a 
knowledge  of  things.  Now,  it  is  because  of 
the  limitations  with  which  finite  experience 
is  hedged  about  that  personality  is  denied 
to  God.  Human  thought  with  its  restrictions 
and  conditions  stands  as  a  barrier  against 
the  application  of  personality  to  the  Infinite. 
But  it  is  clear  that  corporeity  and  limita- 
tion have  no  necessary  connection  with  per- 
sonality. The  Divine  Mind  is  free  from  all 
the  restrictions  that  hamper  the  human  soul. 
Man  sees  and  hears  by  means  of  the  organs 
of  sight  and  sound,  but  the  Infinite  needs  no 
such  senses.  Man  acquires  a  knowledge  of 
things  by  induction  and  inference,  but  the 
Deity  knows  naught  of  such  methods.    His 

82 


The  Christian  Idea  of  God. 

thought  is  free  from  all  our  cumbrous  proc- 
esses, from  the  limitations  of  space,  and  from 
the  restrictions  of  slow-moving  time.  In- 
deed, the  probability  is  that  God  alone  pos- 
sesses complete  personality.  He  is  the  sole 
perfect  and  typical  person  to  whom  finite 
beings  approximate.  Thus  Dr.  Bowne 
writes :  '  ^  Instead  of  saying  that  personality 
is  impossible  to  the  Infinite,  we  must  rather 
say  that  it  is  possible  in  its  fullest  sense 
only  to  the  Infinite.  The  finite,  because  of 
its  necessary  dependence  and  subordination, 
must  always  have  an  imperfect  and  incom- 
plete personality.  Complete  self-knowledge 
and  self-control  are  possible  only  to  the  ab- 
solute and  Infinite  Being;  and  of  this  finite 
personality  can  never  be  more  than  a  faint 
and  feeble  image. ''^  When,  therefore,  the 
Christian  religion  affirms  the  personality  of 
God,  it  means  that  all  the  powers  which  man 
knows  in  his  own  self-conscious  life  and 
which  he  experiences  as  imperfect  are  found 
in  completeness  and  infinitude  in  Him,  Not 
only  does  the  Christian  doctrine  eliminate 
from  the  conception  of  God  all  notions  per- 
taining to  bodily  form  and  likeness,  and  in- 
terprets all  language  which  describes  Him 
as  possessing  physical  parts  figuratively,  but 

83 


Fundamentals  of  the  Cheistian  Eeligion. 

it  conceives  of  Him  as  one  wixo  possesses  in 
infinitude  and  perfect  oneness  all  the  high- 
est elements  of  personality,  such  as  knowl- 
edge, self -consciousness,  and  self -direction. 
Knowledge  in  Grod  is  not  inadequate  and 
fragmentary,  as  in  man,  but  embraces  all 
existence.  Will  is  not  weak  and  vacillating, 
but  stable  and  under  full  control.  Goodness 
is  not  mixed  with  evil,  as  in  hmnan  experi- 
ence, but  perfect  and  full-orbed.  His  char- 
acter is  the  perfect  life  and  light,  of  which 
human  attributes  are  but  broken  rays.  All 
moral  qualities,  all  the  noblest,  truest,  and 
tenderest  that  man  has  ever  experienced  or 
imagined  exist  in  Him  unhindered  and  to 
the  full.  ^^All  the  virtues  evoked  in  all  sorts 
of  human  beings  by  the  experience  of  life 
are  lowly  reproductions  of  good  that  is 
eternal  in  God.  All  ideals  of  goodness  that 
have  ever  inspired  humanity  are  ^broken 
lights'  of  His  full-orbed  perfection,  and  the 
powers  by  which  men  have  done  their  vari- 
ous work  have  all  existed  in  imperfect  like- 
ness to  His."  God  as  a  Person  is  not  '^a 
bigger  specimen  of  existencei,  among  exist- 
ences. Eather,  we  mean  that  the  reality  of 
existence  itself  is  personal :  that  Power,  that 
Law,  that  Life,  that  Thought,  that  Love  are 

84 


The  Christiait  Idea  of  God. 

ultimately,  in  their  very  reality,  identified 
in  one  Supreme,  and  that  necessarily  a  per- 
sonal Existence.'' 

Now  unto  the  King  eternal,  immortal,  in- 
visible, the  only  wise  God,  be  honor  and  glory 
forever. 


85 


"Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven." — Matthew  6:9. 

"  He  is  a  true  Father;  He  is  a  perfect  Father,  with- 
out any  of  the  blemishes  or  faults,  and  with  all  of  the 
excellences  that  are  possible  to  the  relation.  Take  from 
the  word  father  all  of  error,  weakness,  caprice,  with 
which  it  may  ever  be  associated  ;  heighten  to  infinity  all 
in  it  that  is  tender,  endearing,  excellent — that  is  God." 

— John  Young. 


CHAPTEE  III. 

THE  FATHERHOOD  OF  GOD. 

The  treatment  we  have  already  given  of  Grod 
does  not  exhaust  onr  knowledge  of  the  divine 
nature  and  character.  The  idea  of  the  divine 
Fatherhood  still  remains  to  be  considered. 
And  this  idea  of  God,  the  highest  to  which  the 
human  mind  has  ever  attained,  is  the  chief 
glory  of  the  Christian  religion ;  it  is  the  very 
heart  and  center  of  Christianity.  In  its  doc- 
trine of  the  Fatherhood  of  God  the  Christian 
revelation  has  given  us  a  new  appreciation 
of  the  Infinite.  Harnack  tells  us  that  the 
whole  of  Jesus-  message  may  be  reduced  to 
the  two  heads— God  the  Father,  and  the  in- 
finite value  of  the  soul.  Indeed,  it  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  the  ^ ^humanity  of  God'' 
and  the  ^* divinity  of  man"  are  the  essence  of 
the  Christian  faith.  So  deep  an  insight  has 
Christianity  given  us  into  the  divine  char- 
acter that  it  may  be  said  to  have  revolution- 
ized our  ideas  of  the  Deity.  As  the  Ooper- 
nican  theory  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  has 
89 


Fundamentals  of  the  Cheistian  Beligion. 

revolutionized  astronomy,  tlie  Kantian  tlie- 
ory  of  knowledge  pliilosopliy,  and  the  Dar- 
winian theory  of  evolution  biology,  so  in  the 
realm  of  religion  Christianity  has  profoundly 
changed  our  view  of  Grod  and  His  relation 
to  mankind.  ^^One  effect  of  the  life  of  Christ 
upon  our  race  was  to  provide  us,  if  the  phrase 
may  be  allowed,  with  a  new  criterion  of  God. 
Man  had  learned  that  love  was  the  one  thing 
needful,  and  had  looked  into  the  depths  of 
love  as  he  had  never  looked  before.  And 
therefore  love  became  the  only  category  un- 
der which  he  could  be  content  to  thmk  of 
God.'' 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  the 
conception  of  the  divine  Fatherhood  was  an 
idea  that  was  wholly  new  to  men  in  the  days 
of  Jesus  Christ.  The  name  Father  as  ap- 
plied to  God  was  no  strange  title.  It  was  a 
word  that  was  often  on  the  lips  of  the  Old 
Testament  prophet.  To  be  sure  the  chief 
titles  ascribed  to  God  by  the  Jewish  peo- 
ple were  those  of  ^^ Creator,"  *^Kuler," 
^' Judge."  In  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  the  fa- 
vorite name  given  to  Jehovah  was  King.  But 
though  God  was  generally  conceived  of  as  a 
ruler.  He  was  also  thought  of  as  a  Father. 
This  is  seen  in  the  many  sayings  in  which 

90 


The  Fatherhood  of  God. 

He  is  exhibited  as  the  Father  of  the  Hebrew 
race.  *'When  Israel  was  a  child,  then  I  loved 
him,  and  called  my  Son  out  of  Egypt." 
*^Like  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children,  so  the 
Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear  Him.''  ^'Thou 
art  our  Father,  though  Abraham  be  ignorant 
of  us,  and  Israel  acknowledge  us  not ;  Thou, 
O  Lord,  art  our  Father,  our  Eedeemer;  Thy 
name  is  from  everlasting.''  ^' There  was  no 
human  emotion  they  did  not  assign  to  God; 
no  relationship  they  did  not  use  as  the  illus- 
tration of  His  love;  no  appeal  of  aifection 
they  did  not  place  in  His  lips ;  no  sorrow  of 
which  they  did  not  make  Him  partaker." 

It  will  be  seen,  however,  that  the  idea  of 
the  divine  Fatherhood  known  to  the  Jews  was 
one  that  was  limited  to  the  Hebrew  people. 
The  Jewish  nation  failed  to  rise  to  the  lofty 
conception  that  the  Fatherhood  of  God  em- 
braced all  mankind.  To  the  Jew  the  idea 
had  no  application  beyond  his  own  national 
horizon;  it  was  contined  to  the  interest  that 
Jehovah  felt  in  Israel.  God  was  the  Father  of 
His  chosen  people,  but  not  of  the  other  nations 
of  the  earth.  Race  prejudice  and  national 
exclusiveness  had  obscured  their  vision  and 
rendered  impossible  a  conception  of  the  uni- 
yersal  goodness  and  gracious  purpose  of  the 

91 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

Infinite.  Moreover,  it  was  held  that  collec- 
tive Israel  rather  than  the  individual  were 
the  trne  sharers  in  the  compassion  and  mercy 
that  they  beheld  in  Jehovah.  It  was  the  na- 
tion in  its  coi-porate  capacity  and  not  the  indi- 
vidual Hebrew  who  was  called  a  Son  of  God. 
It  was  the  Jewish  race  and  not  the  solitary 
soul  that  was  the  peculiar  object  of  the  divine 
care.  One  writer  asserts  that  there  is  but 
one  prayer  in  the  Old  Testament  addressed 
by  the  individual  to  G-od  as  Father.  To  be 
sure,  with  the  loassing  of  the  centuries  the 
spiritual  horizon  of  the  people  was  broad- 
ened, and  there  arose  gradually  the  concep- 
tion of  God  as  Father  of  tlie  individual  as 
well  as  of  the  nation  as  a  whole.  One  writer 
says :  ^ '  The  evolution  of  the  idea  of  Father- 
hood in  the  consciousness  of  the  Hebrew  peo- 
ple was  exceedingly  slow.  The  first  names 
by  which  God  is  designated  in  the  Old  Testa.- 
ment  do  not  contain  any  indication  of  the 
idea.  Gradually  there  arises  the  conception 
that  God  is  the  Father  of  a  tribe  or  nation, 
then  that  He  is  administering  His  govern- 
ment with  the  care  and  interest  of  a  father. 
Finally  there  appears  some  notion  that  He 
is  related  to  individuals  as  Father.  But  no 
feeling  of  intimate,  personal,  filial  relation 

92 


The  Fathekhood  of  God. 

to  God,  such  as  the  Christian  gospel  brings 
to  our  hearts,  seems  to  have  sprung  forth  in 
the  souls  of  men  until  Christ  made  His  ad- 
vent to  the  world.  "^ 

But  this  vision  of  God  seen  but  in  dim 
outline  by  the  Jewish  people  became  full  and 
luminous  in  the  mind  of  Jesus  Christ.  The 
idea  of  kingship,  the  fundamental  Old  Testa- 
ment conception  of  the  Divine  Being,  Jesus 
displaced  by  the  doctrine  of  the  divine 
Fatherhood.  The  truth  that  Christ  came  to 
make  known  to  the  world  was  the  gracious 
purpose  and  love  of  God.  The  conception  of 
God  as  Father  was  the  very  heart  of  His 
message  to  mankind.  It  was  the  sole  title 
which  fully  expressed  the  divine  nature  and 
the  most  fitting  name  by  which  God  could  be 
called.  To  Christ  this  was  the  most  essential 
relation  of  the  Deity  to  the  race.  This  name 
re^^ealed  His  character  more  adequately  than 
any  other  title  ascribed  to  Him  by  prophet 
or  sage.  In  this  designation  every  other 
name  must  find  its  truest  and  deepest  mean- 
ing. ''With  Jesus,  God  and  Father  were 
identical.  Fatherhood  wa,s  not  a  side  of 
Deity;  it  was  the  center.  God  might  be  a 
King  and  Judge;  He  was  first  of  all,  and  last 
of  all.  Father.    In  Fatherhood  every  other 

93 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

relation  of  God  must  be  harmonized  and  find 
its  sphere.'^  Moreover,  God,  who  in  the  He- 
brew Scriptures  was  known  as  the  Father  of 
the  Jewish  nation  only,  was  conceived  of  by 
Christ  as  the  Father  of  all  men.  The  sublime 
faith  of  Jesus,  never  reached  by  the  ancient 
teachers,  was  that  God  is  the  Father  of  every 
human  soul.  The  divine  Fatherhood,  He  de- 
clared, is  as  extensive  as  the  race  of  men. 

The  relationship  of  Father  was  one  which 
God  sustained  to  Jesus  Christ;  Christ  was 
conscious  that  God  was  His  heavenly  Father. 
This  appears  from  the  many  sayings  of  Jesus 
in  which  this  intimate  and  filial  relation 
might  be  traced.  The  divine  love  was  the  sole 
source  of  Christ's  power  and  strength.  The 
work  that  He  came  to  do  was  not  His  own, 
but  the  work  which  His  Father  had  given 
Him.  He  sought  not  His  own  will,  but  the 
will  of  the  Father  which  had  sent  Him.  The 
truth  which  He  taught  He  had  received  from 
His  Father.  His  Father  loved  Him  because 
He  gave  His  life  to  the  world.  He  prayed 
to  His  Father  to  glorify  Him.  He  comforted 
the  hearts  of  the  disciples  with  the  assurance 
that  in  His  Father's  house  were  many  man- 
sions. And  as  He,  having  finished  His  work 
on  earth,  died  on  the  cross  He  gave  back  His 
94 


The  Fatherhood  of  God. 

soul  unto  God  in  the  words,  ^^  Father,  into 
Thy  hands  I  commend  My  spirit. '^ 

The  ideal  of  Fatherhood  Christ  presented 
to  His  disciples.    As  He  was  the  Son  of  God 
so  they  also  were  the  children  of  the  Most 
High.    Christ  strove  to  give  His  disciples  a 
new  vision  of  the  Divine  Being  and  bring 
them  into  a  more  vital  union  with  Him.    He 
labored  to  teach  them  that  God  was  their 
Chief  Servant,   ever  ready  to  impart  unto 
them  good  gifts.    He  reiterated  the  truth  that 
God  was  always  near,  deeply  interested  in  all 
that  pertained  to  their  welfare,  and  loving 
them  with  a  Father's  love.     He  instructed 
them  to  address  God  as  their  Father  and  to 
trust   in   Him   as   their   daily   Friend.    He 
warned  them  against  the  use  of  vain  repeti- 
tions and  much  speaking  in  their  prayers,  on 
the   ground   that   their   Father  knew   what 
things  they  had  need  of  before  they  asked 
Him.    He  counseled  them   against   anxious 
care  concerning  food  and  raiment,  assuring 
them  that  their  Heavenly  Father  knew  that 
they  had  need  of  all  these  things.    He  wrote 
on  their  hearts  the  truth  that  the  forgiveness 
of  their  trespasses  by  their  Heavenly  Father 
was  conditioned  on  their  willingness  to  for- 
give men.    The  perfection  of  their  Father  in 

95 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

iheaven  was  the  moral  type  to  which  they 
must  conform.  *^  Jesus  toiled  for  three  years 
to  write  the  truth  of  the  Fatherhood  on  the 
minds  of  the  disciples,  with  at  least  one  result, 
that  it  is  inwoven  with  the  pattern  of  the  Gos- 
pels. He  pleaded  also  with  His  friends  that 
they  should  receive  it  into  their  hearts  till 
St.  John  filled  his  epistles  with  this  word. 
With  minute  and  affectionate  care  Jesus  de- 
scribed the  whole  circle  of  religious  thought, 
and  stated  it  in  terms  of  the  Fatherhood. ''^^ 
The  question  may  here  be  raised  as  to 
whether  or  not  Jesus  taught  that  God  is  the 
Father  of  all  men.  We  have  seen  that  ac- 
cording to  the  Old  Testament  teaching  the 
idea  of  the  divine  Fatherhood  had  but  a  na- 
tional application.  Jehovah  was  the  God  and 
Father  of  the  Jewish  people^  but  not  of  the 
nations  of  the  whole  earth.  Does  Christian- 
ity, too,  limit  the  conception  to  a  particular 
class  or  nation?  Is  God  the  Father  of  the 
human  race,  or  of  but  a  part  1  How  extensive 
is  the  divine  family!  How  large  is  the  area 
over  which  the  blessings  of  Fatherhood  ex- 
tend? Does  the  idea  of  Fatherhood  apply 
to  the  loving  and  obedient  only,  or  does  it 
include  all?  Does  it  embrace  the  Gentile  as 
well  as  the  Jew,  the  evil  as  well  a^  the  good? 
96 


The  Fatherhood  of  God. 

Do  all  men,  irrespective  of  rank  and  creed, 
share  in  the  Fatherly  care  of  the  Almighty? 
According  to  certain  theologians  the  num- 
ber of  God's  family  has  been  fixed  from 
eternity  and  is  limited  to  the  elect.  Many 
writers  have  conceived  of  God  as  if  He  were 
a  partial  Father  having  favorites  for  whom 
He  makes  more  ample  provision  than  He 
does  for  the  rest  of  mankind.  Not  a  few 
theologians  have  taught  that  multitudes  of 
human  souls  even  before  they  came  into  ex- 
istence were  arbitrarily  condemned  by  the 
sovereign  will  of  God  to  the  fires  of  hell. 
^' There  have  been  men  calling  themselves 
Christians,  who  have  maintained  that  God 
created  the  vast  majority  of  mankind  for  the 
express  purpose  of  consigning  them  to  ever- 
lasting flames,  in  order  that  He  might  be,  as 
they  strangely  term  it,  glorified."  Those  ap- 
pointed to  everlasting  condemnation  are  or- 
phans or  outcasts ;  they  are  waifs  of  creation 
and  are  consigned  to  the  slums  of  the  uni- 
verse. 

This  view  of  God's  relation  to  men 
grossly  misrepresents  Him  and  makes  Him 
a  Being  utterly  unworthy  of  even  the  respect 
of  mankind.  It  dwarfs  the  Infinite  until  He 
sinks  far  below  the  level  of  the  human  parent. 

7  97 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

No  liuman  fatlier  would  appoint  his  children 
to  everlasting  wrath,  did  he  possess  the 
power,  without  first  giving  them  a  chance  to 
seek  life  and  bliss  as  it  has  been  declared 
that  God  has  done.  God's  revelation  of  Him- 
self in  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a  flat  contra- 
diction of  any  such  doctrine.  His  attitude  to 
men  as  seen  in  the  service  rendered  them  by 
His  Son  is  an  irrefragable  proof  that  every 
human  soul  is  a  sharer  in  the  divine  love. 
The  goodness  and  mercy  of  the  Infinite  are 
as  impartial  and  universal  as  is  the  sunshine. 
The  rain  which  descends  on  the  just  and  on 
the  unjust  is  not  more  free  than  is  the  divine 
bounty  which  is  bestowed  on  all  alike.  What 
God  was  to  Christ  that  He  is  to  all.  His 
favor  is  not  bought  by  obedience  nor  is  it 
forfeited  by  disobedience.  He  loves  the  evil 
as  well  as  the  good.  He  has  no  chosen  few 
who  are  the  special  objects  of  His  care.  His 
desire  is  that  all  men  may  be  saved  and  come 
unto  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  His  re- 
vealed purpose  in  the  gift  of  Christ  is  that  all 
should  believe  in  Him  and  have  eternal  life. 
He  cherishes  all  mankind  in  His  hearty  caring 
for  their  temporal  needs  and  seeking  for 
them  the  things  which  pertain  to  their  spir- 
itual good.     *'The  truth  is  that  God  loves 

98 


The  Fatherhood  of  God. 

equally  all  human  beings,  of  all  ranks,  na- 
tions, conditions,  and  cliaracters;  that  the 
Father  has  no  favorites  and  makes  no  selec- 
tions ;  that  in  His  very  being  He  is  impartial 
and  universal  love.  This  is  the  fundamental 
truth  of  the  Christian  religion,  entering  into 
and  glorifying  all  its  other  truths.'* 

This  brings  us  to  the  attitude  of  God,  the 
divine  Father,  to  sim  What  effect  does  sin 
have  upon  God's  love  and  good- will?  Does 
it  estrange  the  heart  of  God?  Does  it  change 
His  attitude  to  man?  Does  it  give  rise  to  ha- 
tred where  before  was  love?  We  think  not. 
Sin  changes  man,  but  not  God.  *^  Jesus  abso- 
lutely reverses  the  idea  that  God  holds  Him- 
self aloof  from  sinners,  and  reveals  Him  as 
the  generous,  helpful,  forgiving  God,  who  is 
always  seeking  to  save  men  from  the  evil  that 
He  hates."  If  sin  shuts  the  child  out  of  the 
Father's  house  and  excludes  him  from  the 
treasures  of  the  parental  home  it  is  because 
he  himself  has  severed  the  divine  tie.  If  sin 
makes  it  impossible  for  God  to  treat  the  sin- 
ner as  though  he  were  a  dutiful  son,  the  fault 
is  his  and  not  God's.  No  measure  of  wrong- 
doing on  the  part  of  the  prodigal  can  lessen 
God's  interest  in  him  nor  bring  about  the 
least  change  in  the  divine  love.     It  is  not 

99 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

the  Father  who  forsakes  the  child,  but  the 
child  who  forsakes  the  Father.  Sin  can  never 
cause  God  to  abandon  those  whom  He  has 
made  in  His  own  image  and  for  whom  He  has 
prepared  the  riches  of  His  grace.  All  men, 
however  far  they  may  live  beneath  their  dig- 
nity, are  children  of  the  Highest  and  are 
wrapt  about  with  a  deathless  love.  His  love  is 
an  eternal  love  and  can  not  be  dissolved  by 
the  ingratitude  of  the  human  heart.  No  act  of 
man  can  dry  up  the  fountains  of  His  bounty 
nor  quench  the  fires  of  His  love.  The  Heav- 
enly Father  bears  every  sinner  on  His  heart 
as  the  mother  bears  her  wayward  boy. 
The  drunkard,  the  thief,  and  the  debauchee, 
though  shunned  and  despised  by  men,  are 
the  constant  objects  of  the  divine  thought 
and  care.  ^^The  publican  proscribed  by  his 
brother  Jew,  and  the  harlot  anathematized 
by  all  men,  are  not  alien,  said  Jesus,  to  God's 
love  and  thought."  He  loves  men  in  their 
sin,  seeks  them  in  their  wanderings,  and 
strives  by  His  Spirit  to  lead  them  back  to 
the  joy  and  plenty  of  their  Father's  house. 
The  changeless  love  of  God,  however,  does 
not  prevent  the  child  from  rejecting  the 
Father's  overtures  and  forfeiting  the  divine 
100 


The  Fatherhood  of  God. 

bounty  and  blessing.  Many  a  child  is  in  the 
filial  relation  without  the  filial  spirit.  As 
many  a  son  despises  the  love  of  his  earthly 
parent,  so  many  a  one  despises  the  gracious 
kindness  of  God.  And  as  the  human  father 
is  unable  to  discharge'  normally  ^^his  fatherly 
functions  toward  children  who  are  unchild- 
like,'^  so  God  is  hindered  by  the  conduct  of 
His  children  to  realize  for  them  all  that  His 
thought  has  conceived.  ^^ While  God  is  the 
Father  of  all  mien,  all  men  are  not  the  chil- 
dren of  God;  in  other  words,  God  always 
realizes  completely  the  idea  of  Father  to 
every  man;  but  the  majority  of  men  realize 
only  partially  the  idea  of  sonship.''  Many 
a  son  has  deliberately  left  his  Father's  home 
with  all  its  blessings  and  joys  and  has  gone 
into  the  far  country,  where  he  has  been 
doomed  to  feed  swine  and  live  on  the  husks. 
Many  a  child  has  trampled  under  foot  the 
goodness  and  love  of  God  a.nd  has  played  the 
fool  by  associating  with  harlots.  And  there 
has  come  a  day  when  the  child,  friendless  and 
alone  and  undone  by  his  own  rebellion,  has 
perished  in  sin  and  shame.  There  has  come 
a  time  when  with  resources  wasted  and  the 
soul  consumed  by  passion  the  son  has  gone  to 
101 


Fundamentals  of  the  CiiRiSTiAN  Eeligion. 

his  own  place.  Tliere  has  come  a  moment 
when  destroyed  by  the  fires  of  evil  and  con- 
demned and  lost  the  prodigal  has  been  east 
into  the  outer  darkness.  As  the  mighty 
planet  by  its  resistless  pull  has  dragged  many 
a  celestial  body  from  its  path  in  the  heavens 
and  compassed  its  destruction,  so  the  forces 
of  evil  have  lured  many  a  soul  from  its  di- 
vinely appointed  course  and  accomplished  its 
ruin.  And  the  most  pathetic  thing  of  all  is 
that  all  this  has  happened  in  spite  of  the 
great  love  of  Grod.  Though  moral  disaster 
has  overwhelmed  men  because  of  sin,  * '  every- 
thing that  Grod  has  done  has  been  done  to 
avert,  not  to  produce,  spiritual  ruin.  But  the 
act  was  their  own,  and  as  wholly  and  only 
in  defiance  and  despite  of  Him  who  de- 
served nothing  but  obedience  and  love. ' '  The 
Father's  tender  love  has  had  in  return  not 
gratitude,  filial  trust,  and  obedience,  but  in- 
gratitude and  rebellion.  And  this  is  what 
constitutes  hell.  The  rejection  of  the  divine 
goodness  and  the  forfeiture  of  the  joys  of 
the  Father's  home  constitute  the  outer  dark- 
ness. This  is  the  worm  that  dieth  not  and 
the  fire  that  is  not  quenched.  This  is  the 
smoke  of  their  torment  that  ascendeth  up  for 
ever  and  ever.    Hell  is  anywhere  outside  the 

102 


The  Fatherhood  of  God. 

Father's  house.  Its  zone  is  where  men  in 
rebellion  and  sin  refuse  to  submit  themselves 
in  loving  obedience  to  God. 

^'One  of  the  brightest  and  most  attractive 
features  of  the  divine  Fatherhood  in  the 
teaching  of  Jesus"  is  that  presented  in  the 
parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son.  This  story  sets 
before  us  such  a  picture  of  the  love  of  God 
as  is  nowhere  else  given  in  the  words  of 
Jesus.  Some  one  has  observed  that  as  ten 
thousand  sunbeams  are  condensed  in  one 
shining  drop  named  the  diamond,  so  all  theo*- 
logical  systems  may  be  reduced  to  this  one 
parahle.  The  Divine  Being  is  here  portrayed 
not  as  a  stern  and  relentless  Judge,  but  as  a 
loving  Friend  who  seeks  to  rescue  and  save. 
The  son  as  he  turns  his  back  on  his  father's 
home  and  sets  out  for  the  far  country  where 
he  squanders  his  substance  in  a  life  of  law- 
lessness is  followed  by  the  father's  good- 
will. To  be  sure  there  is  a  vast  difference 
between  the  status  of  the  son  at  home  and 
that  of  the  son  in  the  fields  with  the  swine. 
As  a  son  under  the  parental  roof-tree  he  en- 
joys the  rights  of  sonship  and  shares  the 
father's  bounty,  but  as  a  companion  of  har- 
lots he  has  broken  the  ties  of  filial  trust  and 
surrendered  the  blessings  of  the  father's 
103 


Fundamentals  of  the  Cheistian  Religion. 

Band  and  heart.  But  thougli  be  has  befouled 
bis  soul  and  sacrificed  his  manhood  on  the 
altars  of  lust,  he  does  not  pass  beyond  the 
bounds  of  the  parental  love  and  thought* 
The  father  thinks  often  of  his  wayward  boy, 
and  with  the  rising  and  setting  of  every  sun 
stands  at  the  open  door  with  his  eyes  turned 
toward  the'  distant  hills  waiting  for  his  home- 
coming. And  when  the  prodigal,  contrite  of 
hetart^  forsakes  the  haunts  of  sin  and  with 
swift  feet  returns  to  his  father  he  is  received 
with  victorious  love.  Indeed,  the  father  an- 
ticipateis  the  return,  and  ere  the  son's  foot 
crosses  the  threshold  of  the  parental  home 
the  lost  blessings  of  sonship  are  bestowed 
upon  him.  ^'But  when  he  was  yet  a  great 
way  off,  his  father  saw  him,  and  had 
compassion,  and  ran,  and  fell  on  his  neck, 
and  kissed  him. ' '  ^'  Regardless, ' '  says  Jesus, 
'^of  the  obloquy  brought  upon  the  parental 
name  by  the  riotous  son,  he  is  received 
with  open  arms  and  lavish  kisses  upon 
his  return  to  the  family  roof-tree.''  For  his 
dishonor  and  shame  he  received  a  kiss,  a 
robe,  a  ring,  a  feast,  and  a  song.  The  central 
truth  of  the  parable  is  evident.  We  see  here 
the  pitiful  heart  of  the  Infinite,  who  in  loving 
tenderness  receives  the  returning  sinner,  par- 

104 


The  Fatherhood  of  Gtod. 

dons  the  shameful  past,  and  reinstates  him 
into  His  favor.  We  learn  that  the  sinner  be- 
longs to  God,  is  responsible  to  Him,  and  that 
when  he  turns  away  from  sin  he  is  granted 
a  joyous  welcome  and  a  complete  forgiveness. 
The  highest  expression,  however,  of  the  di- 
vine Fatherhood  is  found  in  the  life  of  Jesus 
Christ.  In  the  life  of  Jesus  we  see  revealed 
the  divine  love  for  man  as  we  see  it  revealed 
nowhere  else.  Christ's  mission  to  earth  was 
to  put  an  end  to  the  misconceptions  which 
men  had  entertained  of  Grod,  to  free  their 
minds  of  false  views  of  His  relation  to  man- 
kind, and  to  disclose  His  true  character. 
Men  were  not  fully  conscious  of  their  divine 
parentage;  they  perceived  but  dimly  that  He 
who  was  their  Creator  was  also  their  Father 
and  Friend.  Christ  came  to  bring  to  men's 
minds  a  knowledge  of  their  high  descent  and 
to  assure  them  that  they  were  the  beloved 
children  of  the  Highest.  He  came  to  awaken 
anew  in  men  a  sense  of  their  divine  sonship 
and  to  create  in  their  souls  a  longing  for 
their  home  which  they  had  forsaken.  And 
in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ  we  see  reflected 
the  great  forgiving  heart  of  the  Eternal. 
Here  we  study  the  character  of  God,  His  atti- 
tude to  man,  His  thought  for  His  children, 

105 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

and  His  love  for  the  sinner.  We  believe  that 
Christ  was  a  true  representation  of  the  divine 
character  and  will.  While  the  Christian  relig- 
ion nowhere  claims  that  Christ  fully  re- 
vealed the  intellectual  nature  of  Cod^  or  com- 
pletely disclosed  His  relation  to  creation,  it 
asserts  that  in  His  life  we  have  a  true  tran- 
scrii^t  of  God's  gracious  purpose  and  tender 
love  for  humanity.  In  the  sympathy  of  Je&'us 
with  the  sorrowing,  in  His  compassion  for  the 
weak,  and  in  His  tenderness  for  the  erring, 
we  see  the  heart  of  the  all-loving  Father. 
The  infinite  patience  of  Christ  for  the  unbe- 
lieving, His  deep  solicitude  for  the  helpless, 
and  His  complete  forgiveness  for  the  peni- 
tent unveil  to  us  the  infinite  heart  and  mind. 
^'Moving  on  in  His  thought,  Clirist  re- 
vealed God  as  the  world's  burden  bearer,  full 
of  an  exquisite  kindness  and  sympathy;  that 
what  He  was  through  three  and  thirty  years, 
God  was  through  all  the  ages;  that  what  He 
was  to  publican  and  sinner  in  Bethlehem, 
God  was  for  all  maimed  and  wrecked  hearts 
in  all  worlds;  that  no  human  tear  falls  but 
God  feels  it ;  that  no  blow  smites  the  suffer- 
ing heart  but  that  God  shrinks  and  suffers; 
that  with  wistful  longing  He  follows  the  pub- 
lican and  the  prodigal,  waiting  for  the  hour 

106 


The  Fatherhood  of  God. 

when  He  may  recover  tlie  youtli  to  Ms  in- 
tegrity or  lead  the  man  grown  gray  in  sin 
back  to  His  Father's  honse.''^^ 

The  divine  love  manifested  in  the  life  of 
Jesus  Christ  reaches  its  supreme  expression 
in  the  cross  of  Calvary.  In  the  suffering  of 
the  dying  Christ  we  feel  the  heartbeat  of 
the  Infinite  for  the  erring  race  of  man.  Cal- 
vary  has  been  spoken  of  as  God's  peroration. 
Here  we  see  the  eternal  God  in  the  person  of 
His  Son  laying  down  His  life  to  put  an  end 
forever  to  sin  and  to'  make  men  glorious  citi- 
zens of  the  heavenly  kingdom.  Calvary  must 
no  longer  be  regarded  as  a  transaction  of  the 
formn  or  market.  It  must  no  longer  be 
tliought  of  as  a  ransom'  paid  the  powers  of 
evil,  nor  as  an  offering  to  propitiate  an  of- 
fended Deity.  It  must  not  be  interpreted  as 
the  fulfilment  of  a  bargain  made  between  God 
and  Christ  in  order  that  the  Divine  honor 
may  be  saved  and  the  Divine  law  upheld. 
Such  a  conception  of  the  message  of  Calvary 
is  utterly  unworthy  of  the  Deity.  If  this  be 
the  meaning  of  the  cross  of  Christ,  then  '  ^  the 
entire  operation  was  carried  on  in  a  fashion 
unpleasantly  suggestive  of  an  Almighty  Shy- 
lock."  ''Theories  'judicial,'  theories  'com- 
mercial,' theories  that  buy  God  from  wrath 
107 


Fundamentals  of  the  Cheistian  Eeligion. 

to  mercy,  theories  that  weigh  divine  good- 
ness over  against  human  badness — all  these 
are  broken  arcs  that  can  not  contain  this 
wondrous  circle  named  Grod's  atoning  love." 
The  cross  is  rather  the  living  revelation  of 
the  divine  benevolence  and  good-will  to  the 
race.  It  is  the  device  of  a  Heavenly  Father 
to  save  the  sinner  from  himself  and  his  sin 
and  to  win  him  to  loving  service.  It  is  the 
work  of  divine  love,  conceived  in  love  and 
executed  in  love.  ^'The  highest  expression 
of  God  to  mci,"  writes  Charles  Wagner,  *^is 
the  suffering  God,  for  Christ  has  humanized 
God  as  He  has  divinized  humanity.  If  God 
had  never  suffered,  man  would  be  greater 
than  God  in  patience,  courage,  and  faith." 

Christ  thus  brings  a  new  conception  of 
God  to  man.  The  sublime  vision  of  the  di- 
vine Fatherhood  which  prophet  and  sage  but 
dimly  discerned,  is  luminous  and  glorious  to 
the  thought  of  Jesus.  All  that  the  idea  of 
Fatherhood  involves  of  tenderness  and  love 
is  as  certain  to  Christ  as  is  the  divine  exist- 
ence. Not  more  indubitable  is  God's  being 
than  is  the  fact  of  His  tender  mercy  toward 
mankind  and  His  deep  solicitude  in  whatever 
concerns  His  human  children.  God  is  no 
longer  conceived  of  as  a  ruler  who  seeks  His 

108 


The  Fatherhood  of  God. 

own  glory,  and  whose  law  and  honor  nmst  be 
upheld  even  though  His  creatures  be  de- 
stroyed in  order  that  it  might  be  compassed, 
but  as  One  who  is  love  incarnate  and  whose 
chief  joy  is  to  serve.  Men  are  no  longer 
taught  to  fear  God,  but  are  invited  to  seek 
His  favor  and  to  participate  in  His  friend- 
ship. The  chief  attribute  of  the  Infinite  is 
not  justice  but  love,  while  His  most  promi- 
nent title  is  not  that  of  Ruler  but  of  Father. 
God  is  still  a  King,  but  the  object  of  His 
reign  is  the  material  good  and  the  spiritual 
development  of  His  people.  Christ  brings 
to  human  hearts  the  undying  conviction 
^^that  this  universe  is  not  so  much  a  huge 
court-room  a,s  our  Father's  house;  and  we 
are  not  so  much  jail  inmates,  haled  forth 
from  our  cells  to  the  prisoner's  dock  to  stand 
trial,  as  members  of  our  Father's  family; 
unworthy,  imperfect,  undeserving  members; 
but  for  all  that,  held  in  a  deathless  love." 

The  Christian  doctrine  of  the  divine 
Fatherhood  has  thus  corrected  many  of  our 
false  and  mischievous  notions  of  God.  Since 
the  advent  of  Christ  we  have  had  a  more  ade- 
quate conception  of  the  Infinite  than  ever  be- 
fore. The  conception  of  God  as  an  eastern 
despot  whose  treatment  of  his  subjects  was 
109 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

capricious  and  arbitrary  Christ  forever  shat- 
ters. The  idea  of  Grod  as  an  Oriental  king 
who  had  complete  power  over  those  whom  He 
ruled,  and  whose  attitude  to  them  was  not 
atfected  by  their  personal  merit  or  demerit 
Jesus  displaces  by  the  idea  of  the  Father's 
considerateness  and  good- will.  ^'The  life  of 
God,  as  interpreted  by  Jesus,  is  not  that  of 
some  Oriental  sovereign  who  delighted  to  hear 
his  own  glories  procla,imed;  but  a  ceaseless 
giving  of  Himself,  a  ceaseless  flowing  out  of 
the  divine  energy  in  the  service  of  all  that  is 
created.''  Heretofore  men  had  thought  of 
the  Divine  Being  as  an  unbending  judge 
whose  law  must  be  enforced ;  now  they  regard 
Him  as  a  loving  Friend.  Heretofore  He  was 
conceived  of  as  a  hostile  ruler  who  must  be 
appeased  with  sacrifice  and  gift;  now  He  is 
seen  to  be  the  Chief  of  servants  and  the 
Lover  of  mankind.  Heretofore  it  had  been 
tanght  that  God,  like  a  potter,  molded  a  ves- 
sel of  honor  or  dishonor  as  it  pleased  Him; 
now  it  is  seen  tliat  His  supreme  purpose  is 
to  transform  all  men  into  the  likeness  of  His 
own  divine  character. 

Nowhere  else  do  we  find  such  a  lofty  con- 
ception of  the  Deity  as  is  revealed  by  Christ. 
Neither  in  the  religious  literature  nor  the 
110 


The  Fatherhood  of  God. 

philosophic  speculations  of  any  nation  do 
we  discover  such  an  exalted  view  of  the  di- 
vine character  as  is  given  by  Jesus.  No  sage 
ever  caught  such  a  sublime  vision  of  the 
goodness  and  love  of  the  Infinite  as  did  Jesus 
Christ.  As  the  sun  in  its  glorious  splendor 
outshines  the  multitudes  of  celestial  bodies 
that  spangle  the  heavens,  so  the  view  that 
Christianity  brings  us  of  the  Divine  Being 
surpasses  in  beauty  and  grandeur  all  con- 
ceptions entertained  of  Him  by  prophet  and 
poet.  ^^God,  as  Jesus  thought  of  Him,  is  a 
being  of  overwhelming  beauty.  There  is  no 
image  anywhere  for  this  splendor  of  the  mind 
of  Christ.  Nothing  in  the  extant  intellectual 
or  spiritual  possessions  of  mankind  can 
match  the  idea  of  the  God  and  Father  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Probably  the  best  of  that 
thought  is  still  beyond  the  deepest  and  most 
sympathetic  study.  One  can  only  dream  of 
what  it  would  be  to  entertain  Christ's  vision 
of  the  Infinite.  "^-^ 

If  the  Christian  doctrine  of  God  be  con- 
trasted with  the  pagan  conception,  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  latter  falls  far  short  of  the  sub- 
lime reach  of  the  former.  Pagan  thought 
held  that  the  gods  were  in  no  way  interested 
in  the  doings  of  mortals  nor  felt  the  least 

111 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

concern  in  tJieir  affairs.  Ennius  declared  Ke 
did  not  believe  the  gods  thought  of  human 
beings,  ^ '  for  if  the  gods  concerned  themselves 
about  the  human  race  the  good  would  pros- 
per and  the  bad  suffer.''  Menander  sang, 
''The  gods  do  not  care  for  men.''  The  Epi- 
cureans denied  the  divine  providence  and  en- 
tertained the  notion  of  lazy  deities  who  were 
absolutely  indifferent  to  humankind.  Lucre- 
tius affirmed  that  the  gods,  with  all  their 
needs  supplied  by  nature  and  unaffected  by 
good  or  ill,  lived  a  life  of  perfect  felicity  in 
the  heavenly  regions  all  heedless  of  the 
world.  Aristotle  asserted  that  God  ''as  a 
being  of  pure  contemplation  did  not  love  the 
world."  And  even  Plato  wrote,  "It  is  not 
eiasy  to  find  the  Fatlier  and  Creator  of  all 
existence,  and  when  He  is  found  it  is  impos- 
sible to  make  Him  known  to  all." 

The  Christian  religion  teaches,  as  we  have 
seen,  that  God  is  profoundly  interested  in 
humanity.  He  sympathizes  with  them  in 
their  sorrows,  suffers  with  tliem  in  their 
griefs,  and  labors  with  them  in  moral 
achievement.  God  does  not  sit  on  a  frosty 
throne  coldly  beholding  the  struggles  of  man- 
kind and  unaffected  by  their  weaknesses  and 
temptations;  He  is  sympathy,  self-sacrifice, 

112 


The  Fatherhood  of  God. 

and  self-giving  love  incarnate.  Fatherhood 
is  the  absolute  expression  of  His  nature. 
Christ  and  not  the  pagan  conception  repre- 
sents the  correct  attitude  of  God  to  the  con- 
cerns of  men  when  He  affirms  that  the  divine 
providence  extends  to  even  the  minutest  de- 
tails of  human  life.  ^^His  solicitude  in  behalf 
of  sinning,  striving,  suffering  humankind  is 
so  minute,  says  Jesus,  that  He  reckons  the 
hairs .  of  our  head. ' ' 

If  pagan  thought  and  the  extra-Christian 
religions  fail  to  give  any  adequate  idea  of 
God's  gracious  love  to  the  world,  the  revela- 
tion given  of  Him  in  nature  also  fails  to  make 
known  his  good-will.  The  oracles  of  science 
may  be  said  to  be  dumb  as  to  the  divine  good- 
ness. It  will  scarcely  be  necessary  to  state 
that  no  serious  mind  can  deny  the  wisdom 
and  power  of  the  Creator  of  physical  nature. 
No  one  who  studies  the  laws  and  phenomena 
of  the  physical  world  can  long  be  in  doubt  as 
to  its  author;  the  attributes  of  God  are  dis- 
closed in  the  constitution  of  the  material  uni- 
verse. The  wonders  of  the  heavens,  the 
countless  beauties  of  organic  nature,  and  all 
the  myriad  mysteries  of  life  disclose  God's 
power  and  skill.  In  the  order  and  arrange- 
ment of  the  physical  order  as  well  as  in  the 

8  113 


Fundamentals  of  the  Chbistian  Eeligion. 

processes  and  movements  of  cosmic  action  are 
found  evidences  of  a  supreme  and  all-wise 
Being.  But  while  the  material  world  presents 
to  us  an  all-powerful  God  as  its  Creator,  it 
is  silent  as  to  the  divine  love.  It  tells  ^^of 
power,  but  not  of  goodness;  of  life,  infinite 
life,  but  not  of  moral  order,  love,  and  mercy. ' ' 
Indeed,  a  study  of  the  physical  universe  re- 
veals much  tliat  seems  wholly  meaningless 
and  devoid  of  moral  worth.  The  unfriendly 
attitude  of  the  world  to  man  in  his  aims  and 
endeavors  apparently  does  not  accord  with 
the  good-will  of  its  Maker.  Indeed,  so  antag- 
onistic does  the  material  order  seem  to  the 
higher  interests  of  mankind  that  the  problem 
of  reconciling  the  cruelty  of  nature  with  the 
infinite  benevolence  of  God  has  been  declared 
impossible.  One  scientist  writes,  ^^I  can  not 
see  one  shadow  or  tittle  of  evidence  that  the 
great  unknown  underlying  the  phenomena  of 
the  universe  stands  to  us  in  the  relation  of 
a  Father— loves  and  cares  for  us  as  Chris- 
tianity asserts.^'  So  depressed  was  Mr.  J. 
S.  Mill  with  the  mystery  and  savagery  of  na- 
ture that  he  asserted  that  He  whom  it  con- 
ceals is  not  a  Being  whose  face  is  ^^human- 
ized to  the  lineaments  of  love."  The  divine 
goodness  must  be  sought  elsewhere  than  in 
114 


The  Fatherhood  of  God. 

the  physical  universe.  From  a  study  of  the 
world  we  could  never  infer  that  the  essential 
qualities  of  its  Creator  are  those  involved  in 
the  idea  of  Fatherhood.  But  ^'back  behind 
all  in  this  world,  which  seems  so  cruel,  so  un- 
just, so  unequal,  Christians  believe  there 
beats  the  heart  of  a  Father,  a  heart  of  impar- 
tial love.''  And  this  belief  is  based  as  we 
have  seen  on  the  revelation  that  God  has 
given  of  Himself  in  the  incarnation,  life,  and 
death  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  Christ  alone  is  the 
heart  of  the  Infinite  adequately  disclosed. 
Here  He  reveals  Himself  as  the  Father  and 
Friend  of  men.  Here  we  learn  that  the  es- 
sential spirit  of  God  Himself  is  mercy,  be- 
nevolence, and  love.  Here  He  stands  forth 
as  the  Lover  of  mankind  and  the  Chief  Ser\^- 
ant  of  the  race. 

The  Christian  conception  of  the  divine 
Fatherhood  is  one  which  commends  itself  to 
the  human  mind.  While  it  is  the  most  funda- 
mental idea  of  Christianity  and  must  be  made 
the  starting  point  of  all  theologies,  it  appeals 
with  convincing  force  to  human  thought. 
This  doctrine  accords  with  correct  reason 
and  the  principles  of  sound  philosophy;  it 
satisfies  the  head  as  well  as  tlie  heaii:.  The 
needs  of  the  reason,  the  ideals  of  the  will, 

115 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

and  the  aspirations  of  the  soul  find  here  their 
truest  satisfaction. 

During  the  history  of  philosophic  specu- 
lation many  ^ ^ sublimated  substitutes"  have 
been  offered  for  the  personal  God  of  Chris- 
tianity. Attempts  have  been  made  to  sup- 
plant the  divine  personality  by  such  phrases 
as  ^^unconditioned  reality/'  *^  persistent 
force,''  ^'impersonal  energy."  By  certain 
writers  the  Grod  and  Father  of  spirits  has 
been  denied,  and  His  place  filled  by  such  ab- 
stractions as  *'the  Absolute,"  ''the  Moral 
Will,"  "the  Unconscious,"  "a  power  not 
ourselves  which  makes  for  righteousness," 
"the  Unknowable,"  "the  Universe,"  "Hu- 
manity." But  these  abstractions  of  modern 
speculation  are  pitiable  substitutes  for  the 
personal  God  of  the  Christian  faith.  They 
are  utterly  unable  to  bring  hope  to  the  hu- 
man heart.  The  claims  of  the  intellect,  the 
demands  of  conscience,  and  the  cravings  of 
the  affections  find  no  response  in  an  appeal 
to  these  gods  of  modern  thought.  No!  No! 
these  are  not  thy  gods.  Huxley  declared  that 
he  would  as  soon  adore  a  wilderness  of  apes 
as  the  Positivists'  rationalized  conception  of 
humanity.  Nothing  less  than  a  personal 
Being  who  is  a  loving  Friend  and  Father  can 

116 


The  Fatherhood  of  God. 

satisfy  the  deeper  needs  of  the  soul.  The 
heart  of  man  can  rest  in  nothing  less  than 
One  whom  it  can  love  and  trust.  And  such 
a  One  is  He  whom  Christ  presents.  ^^He 
aims  to  rescue  the  idea  of  God  from  the  realm 
of  cold  and  powerless  abstraction,  and  to 
make  it  a  practical,  living  power  in  the 
heart. '^  He  reveals  God,  the  Creator  of  our 
spirits,  as  One  into  whose  face  we  can  con- 
fidently look,  in  whose  fellowship  we  may 
live,  and  through  whose  favor  we  may  obtain 
all  earthly  and  spiritual  good. 


117 


"  Christ  is  all,  and  in  all."— Colossians  3: 11. 

"Jesus  Christ  is  the  center  of  all,  and  the  goal  to 
which  all  tends." — Pascal. 

"  The  Person  that  literature  felt  to  be  its  loftiest 
ideal,  philosophy  conceived  as  its  highest  personality, 
criticism  as  its  supreme  problem,  theology  as  its  funda- 
mental datum,  religion  as  its  cardinal  necessity." 

— Fairbairn. 

"  If  Jesus  Christ  is  a  man, 
And  only  a  man,  I  say 
That  of  all  mankind  I  cleave  to  Him, 
And  to  Him  I  will  cleave  alway. 

"  If  Jesus  Christ  is  a  God, 

And  the  only  God,  I  swear 
I  will  follow  Him  through  heaven  and  hell, 
The  earth,  the  sea,  and  the  air! " 

—Richard  Watson  Gilder. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  PRE-EMINENCE  OF  CHRIST. 

The  Christian  religion  is  inextricably  bound 
up  with  the  life  and  personality  of  Jesus 
Christ.  It  is,  as  we  have  already  seen,  not  a 
theological  system  nor  a  code  of  morality,  but 
the  life  of  faith  in  Christ.  To  speak  of  Chris- 
tianity is  not  to  speak  of  certain  doctrines, 
rules  of  conduct,  or  forms  of  worship,  but  of 
Jesus.  With  Him  Christianity  arose,  and 
with  Him  it  stands  or  falls.  It  would  be  as 
impossible  to  separate  the  light  from  the  sun- 
beam, as  to  separate  Jesus  from  the  history 
and  significance  of  the  Christian  faith.  While 
the  Christian  religion  has  brought  new  ele- 
ments of  truth  into  the  world,  and  has  a  tem- 
per and  spirit  of  its  own,  a  living  Person  is 
its  very  heart  and  essence.  ^*It  owes  its  char- 
acter at  every  point  to  Him.  Its  convictions 
are  convictions  about  Him.  Its  ideals  are 
bom  of  His  teaching  and  His  life.  Its 
strength  is  the  strength  of  His  spirit." 
Since  Christianity  is  determined  by  the 

121 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

life  of  Jesus  Clirist,  no  adequate  estimate  can 
be  made  of  its  meaning  and  power  until  we 
inquire  into  the  character  and  work  of  its 
Founder.  Since  the  spirit  of  Jesus  is  woven 
into  the  pattern  of  the  gospel,  no  just  appre^- 
ciation  of  the  Christian  revelation  can  be  had 
until  we  exhibit  the  greatness  of  its  divine 
Head.  Would  we  understand  fully  the  tem- 
per of  the  Christian  faith  we  must  discover 
what  manner  of  man  Christ  was. 

We  have  come  to  learn  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  choicest  spirit  that  the  human  race  has 
ever  produced.  We  have  come  to  see  that  He 
is  the  noblest  fruit  borne  by  the  tree  of  hu- 
manity. Were  we  to  call  the  roll  of  the  illus- 
trious names  of  earth  we  would  discover  that 
to  Christ  must  be  accorded  the  highest  honor. 
Were  the  mightiest  of  the  mighty  sons  of  men 
placed  by  the  side  of  Jesus  and  both  meas- 
ured by  the  standard  of  true  greatness,  the 
pre-eminence  must  be  ascribed  to  the  latter. 
*' Measure  Him  by  the  world's  greatest  sons 
—how  poor  they  are!  Try  Him  by  the  best 
of  men— how  little  and  low  they  appear!" 
What  the  glorious  sun,  the  orb  of  day,  in  its 
noontide  splendor  is  compared  with  the  glim- 
mering stars,  that  is  Jesus  Christ  compared 
with  the  long  line  of  illustrious  men  who  have 
122 


The  Pre-Eminefce  of  Christ. 

made  luminous  the  page  of  history.  As 
Mount  Everest,  lifting  its  crystal  domes  and 
lofty  peaks  29,000  feet  in  the  air,  towers  high 
above  the  hilltops  that  surround  its  base,  so 
Christ  rises  in  lofty  grandeur  to  a  height  that 
far  surpasses  the  highest  elevation  reached 
by  the  noblest  representatives  of  the  race, 
^'We  find  Him  on  the  most  exalted  summit 
of  humanity's  greatness  and  goodness.'' 

The  writers  of  the  New  Testament  recog- 
nized the  supremacy  of  Christ.  This  is  seen 
from  the  many  names  they  ascribed  to  Him. 
Christ  lays  claim  to  many  titles.  Indeed,  no 
other  representative  of  humanity  lays  claim 
to  so  many  titles  as  does  Jesus.  His  dis- 
ciples and  followers  poured  forth  their  love 
for  Him  in  the  many  tender  words  and 
phrases  in  which  they  described  His  work 
and  character.  He  is  ^Hhe  Savior,"  ^'the 
Great  High  Priest,"  ^Hhe  Prince  of  Life," 
^4he  Intercessor,"  ^^the  first  born  of  many 
brethren,"  *Mhe  Prophet  of  the  Highest/' 
*4he  Alpha  and  the  Omega,"  ^4he  Bright 
and  Morning  Star,"  *'the  King  of  kings  and 
the  Lord  of  lords." 

The  pre-eminence  of  Christ  has  been  rec- 
ognized by  many  writers  of  the  past  nineteen 
centuries  a,s  well  as  by  the  New  Testamen^t 

123 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

writers.  The  most  diverse  types  of  mind 
have  vied  with  one  another  in  wreathing  gar- 
lands for  His  brow.  The  distinguished  phi- 
losopher, Spinoza,  proclaimed  that  Christ  is 
the  symbol  of  divine  wisdom.  Eenan  said: 
**  Whatever  may  be  the  surprises  of  the  fu- 
ture, Jesus  will  never  be  surpassed.  His  wor- 
ship will  grow  without  ceasing ;  His  story  will 
call  forth  tears  without  end;  His  suffering 
will  melt  the  noblest  heart ;  all  ages  will  pro- 
claim that  among  the  sons  of  men  there  is 
none  born  greater  th-an  Jesus.''  Groethe  pro- 
nounced Him  ' '  the  divine  Man,  the  Saint,  the 
type  and  model  of  all  men. ' '  Napoleon  gave 
his  testimony  in  the  following  words:  *^I 
think  I  understand  something  of  human  na- 
ture, and  I  tell  you  all  of  these— the  heroes 
of  antiquity— were  men,  and  I  am  a  man,  but 
not  one  is  like  Him.;  Jesus  Christ  was  more 
than  a  man.  Alexander,  Caesar,  Charle- 
magne, and  myself  founded  great  empires; 
but  upon  what  did  the  creations  of  our  genius 
depend?  Upon  force.  Jesus  alone  founded 
His  empire  upon  love,  and  t.oi  this  very  day 
millions  would  die  for  Him.''  Gladstone 
avowed,  ^^The  older  I  grow,  the  more  con- 
vinced I  am  in  the  belief  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
the  only  hope  of  humanity."    Strauss  called 

124 


The  Pke-Eminence  of  Christ. 

Him  ^4he  highest  object  we  can  possibly  im- 
age with  respect  to  religion,  the  Being  with- 
out whose  presence  perfect  piety  is  impossi- 
ble. Never  at  any  time  will  it  be  possible  to 
rise  above  Him  or  to  imagine  any  one  who 
should  ever  be  equal  with  Him.''  Carlyle  ex- 
claimed: ^^  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  our  divinest 
symbol !  Higher  has  the  human  thought  not 
yet  reached. ' '  Theodore  Parker  asserted  that 
*'He  unites  in  Himself  the  sublimest  precepts 
and  divinest  practices.''  Jean  Panl  Eichter 
wrote  that  ^Hhe  life  of  Christ  concerns  Him 
who,  being  the  holiest  among  the  mighty, 
the  mightiest  among  the  holy,  lifted  with  His 
pierced  hands  empires  off  their  hinges,  and 
turned  the  stream  of  centuries  ont  of  its 
channel,  and  still  governs  the  ages." 

The  greatness  of  Christ,  like  that  of  all 
men,  must  be  measured  by  the  extent  of  the 
influence  He  has  exerted  upon  the  world.  We 
consider  those  alone  great  who  have  had  a 
wide  and  beneficial  influence  upon  the  human 
race.  Tried  by  this  test  our  Lord  is  supreme 
among  men.  Judged  by  this  standard  Christ 
stands  alone.  Measure  Him  by  the  influence 
He  has  exerted  upon  the  nations  of  the  eartli 
and  He  is  the  greatest  born  of  woman.  The 
impression  He  has  made  on  the  life  of  the 

125 


Fundamentals  op  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

race  is  without  a  parallel  in  the  experience 
of  mankind.  The  page  of  history  has  become 
Inminous  with  the  light  that  He  has  shed. 
His  star  is  the  brightest  and  most,  intense  in 
the  firmament.  The  destinies  of  the  civilized 
world  are  controlled  by  Him,  and  His  king- 
dom embraces  not  less  than  one-third  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  entire  globe.  So  firmly  in- 
woven is.  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  into  the 
history  of  humanity,  that  to  tear  it  ^ '  from  the 
world  would  be  to  shake  it  to  its  very  founda- 
tions. ' ' 

To  estimate  the  influence  of  Christ  on  hu- 
manity it  will  be  necessary  to  inquire  con- 
cerning His  influence  on  those  who  were  His 
daily  associates.  No  true  estimate  of  His 
power  can  be  made  until  we  take  into  account 
the  impression  produced  on  His  disciples  and 
followers.  We  must  hear  the  story  of  those 
who  were  His  companions  and  came  under 
the  spell  of  His  personality.  *^  Twelve  men 
came  into  His  intimacy;  in  eleven  He  kindled 
a  fire  that  made  them  saints  and  heroes,  and 
the  traitor  broke  his  heart  through  remorse, 
so  he  also  must  have  loved.  ^'  So  great  was 
the  influence  of  Jesus  upon  those  who  were  as- 
sociated with  Him  that  they  were  willing  to 
die  for  him.    Indeed,  according  toi  tradition, 

126 


The  Pre-Eminence  of  Christ. 

the  whole  band  of  disciples  except  one  gained 
the  martyr's  crown.  It  is  said  that  Peter, 
feeling  that  he  was  unworthy  to  die  in  the 
same  manner  in  which  his  Master  had  died, 
requested  that  he  be  crucified  with  the  head 
downward.  History  presents  no  leader  who 
has  exercised  such  a  powerful  influence  over 
his  followers  as  did  Jesus.  Not  only  did  they 
suffer  for  their  Master,  but  were  willing  for 
His  sake  to  go  to  prison  and  to  death.  And 
this  was  not  because  an  appeal  was  made 
to  their  patriotism  or  honor,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  soldier,  but  because  they  loved  Him.  It 
would  have  been  impossible  for  one  lacking 
in  intellectual  strength  and  moral  vigor  to 
have  exercised  such  an  influence  over  men  as 
did  Christ  over  His  followers.  Did  He  not 
possess  a  compelling  personality  and  exhibit 
intellectual  greatness  and  moral  integrity. 
He  could  not  have  won  their  devotion  and 
love.  Moreover,  it  must  not  be  overlooked 
that  the  disciples  when  first  they  came  in 
contact  with  Jesus  were  rude  and  bigoted 
men.  These  were  the  men  who  on  one  occa- 
sion wished  to  call  down  fire  from  heaven,  to 
consume  those  who  refused  to  receive  Christ 
into  their  village,  and  who  on  another  occa- 
sion strove  among  themselves  concerning  the 

127 


Fundamentals  of  the  Chkistian  Eeligion. 

chief  places  of  His  kingdom.  And  the  influ- 
ence of  Jesus  was  not  confined  to  His  imme- 
diate followers.  Paul,  the  greatest  of  the 
apostles,  undertook  herculean  tasks,  endured 
scourging  and  imprisonment,  and  suffered 
the  loss  of  all  things  that  he  might  win  Christ. 
The  honors  of  earth  were  but  dross  to  him 
in  comparison  with  the  favor  and  fellowsliip 
of  his  Divine  Lord.  He  ^'denied  the  faith 
that  was  once  dear  to  him,  and  flung  away 
the  world  that  was  once  his  ambition,  to  wel- 
come innumerable  labors  and  exhaust  the  re- 
sources of  martyrdom,  for  the  sake  of  One 
whom  he  had  never  seen,  save  in  mystical 
vision,  and  formerly  hated  unto  the  shedding 
of  blood.'' 

The  love  kindled  in  the  early  disciples  has 
been  kindled  in  the  hearts  of  multitudes  and 
has  glowed  with  intense  effect  during  every 
century  of  the  Christian  era.  With  the  gath- 
ering years  men  have  beheld  in  Christ  new 
revelations  of  beauty  and  have  enthroned 
Him  Iving  of  their  most  sacred  aiffections. 
His  influence  has  not  been  confined  within 
narrow  limits,  but  has  been  felt  by  all  classes 
of  men  and  has  been  as  powerful  as  the  throb- 
bing centuries.  "While  the  influence  of  other 
great  world  leaders  has  been  limited  to  some 
128 


The  Pke-Eminence  of  Christ. 

age  or  nation,  His  has  been  confined  to  no  age, 
no  continent,  no  realm  of  thought,  no  field  of 
activity.  Confucius  belongs  to  China,  Grau- 
tama  to  Asia,  Plato  to  Greece,  Michael  An- 
gelo  to  Europe,  Abraham  Lincoln  to  Amer- 
ica, but  Christ  belongs  to  no  country  nor  age. 
He  is  the  typical  representative  of  humanity 
and  is  as  world-wide  in  His  sympathies  as 
the  human  race.  As  the  mighty  ocean  is  con- 
fined to  no  single  land,  but  laves  the  shores  of 
every  continent  and  isle,  so  the  presence  of 
Jesus  is  felt  in  the  ongoings  of  every  move^ 
ment  of  human  history.  There  is  no  fact  in 
the  doings  of  the  nations  so  real  as  the  ef- 
fect of  the  life  of  Christ  upon  mankind.  No 
adequate  account  can  be  given  of  human  in- 
stitutions, the  progress  of  society,  and  the 
temper  of  the  nations,  during  the  past  nine- 
teen centuries,  apart  from  His  spirit  as  the 
causal  force.  The  peoples  who  are  in  the  van 
of  modern  civilization,  and  who  seem  des- 
tined to  be  the  leaders  of  the  future,  are 
those  whose  institutions  embody  the  teach- 
ing and  spirit  of  Jesus.  Since  He  came  His 
life  has  been  the  most  potent  factor  in  the 
progress  of  the  race  and  the  onward  march 
of  the  centuries. 

It  was  Horace  Bushnell  who  wrote :  "The 

9  129 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

world  itself  is  changed,  and  is  no  more  the 
same  that  it  was ;  it  has  never  been  the  same 
since  Jesus  left  it.  The  air  is  charged  with 
heavenly  odors,  and  a  kind  of  celestial  con- 
sciousness, a  sense  of  other  worlds,  is  wafted 
on  us  in  its  breath.  Let  the  dark  ages  come, 
let  society  roll  backward  and  Churches  perish 
in  whole  regions  of  the  earth,  let  infidelity 
deny,  and,  what  is  worse,  let  spurious  piety 
dishonor  the  truth;  still  there  is  something 
here  that  was  not,  and  something  that  has 
immortality  in  it.  Still  our  confidence  re- 
mains unshaken,  that  Christ  and  His  all- 
quickening  life  are  in  the  world  as  fixed  ele- 
ments, and  will  be  to  the  end  of  time;  for 
Christianity  is  not  so  much  the  advent  of  a 
better  doctrine,  as  of  a  perfect  character;  and 
how  can  a  perfect  character,  once  entered 
into  life  and  history,  be  separated  and  finally 
expelled!  It  were  easier  to  untwist  all  the 
beams  of  light  in  the  sky,  separating  and  ex- 
punging one  of  the  colors,  than  to  get  the 
character  of  Jesus,  which  is  the  real  gospel, 
out  of  the  world.  "^^ 

The  influence  of  Christ  on  education,  lit- 
erature, and  art  has  been  deep  and  abiding. 
He  has  inspired  much  of  what  is  noblest  and 
best  in  the  literature  of  the  nations  and  the 

130 


The  Pee-Eminence  of  Christ. 

educational  institutions  of  the  western  world. 
The  institutions  of  learning  which  have  been 
founded  by  Christian  peoples  have  been  due 
in  no  small  measure  to  the  high  estimate 
Christ  placed  on  childhood.  Throughout  its 
entire  history  Christianity  has  fostered  edu- 
cation and  placed  high  value  on  the  proper 
development  of  the  human  mind.  While  the 
primary  duty  of  the  Christian  Church  has 
been  to  turn  the  heart,s  of  men  Godward, 
she  has  never  forgotten  that  the  propagation 
of  learning  is  one  of  her  chief  functions. 
The  teachings  of  Christ  have  been  the  germs 
from  which  have  sprung  the  schools  and  uni- 
versities of  the  European  and  American  con- 
tinents. From  the  noble  school  of  Alexan- 
dria, founded  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean in  the  second  century,  to  the  last  in- 
stitution of  learning  eistablished  under  Chris- 
tian influences,  the  Spirit  of  Christ  has  been 
the  guiding  factor.  The  educational  institu- 
tions of  Christian  lands  find  their  causal 
force  not  in  the  schools  of  the  Greek  and 
Roman  world,  but  in  the  emphasis  laid  by 
Christ  on  childlife,  in  His  insistence  on  the 
value  of  man,  and  in  the  progressiveness  of 
His  thought.  And  the  Christian  Church  has 
not  confined  herself  to  the  education  of  teach- 
131 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

ers  to  perform  the  functions  of  her  office^  but 
has  trained  men  for  every  department  of 
thought.  Law,  medicine,  science,  philosophy, 
poetry  have  found  within  her  fold  a  con- 
genial atmosphere  and  have  flourished  under 
her  protection.  From  beneath  her  fostering 
care  men  and  women  with  minds  enriched, 
characters  strengthened,  and  hearts  aglow 
have  gone  forth  to  increase  knowledge  and 
to  kindle  in  the  hearts  of  others  a  passion  for 
truth.  Through  such  scholars  as  Origen, 
Augustine,  Erasmus,  Melancthon,  Ba,con, 
Milton,  and  Newton  the  Christian  Church 
has  laid  the  human  race  under  perpetual  ob- 
ligation. 

The  reality  of  Christ  is  present  in  litera- 
ture. The  noblest  literature  produced  by  the 
western  world  is  but  an  elaboration  of  the 
ideas  which  found  expression  on  the  lips  of 
Jesus.  All  writers  of  Christian  nations  who 
have  contributed  to  the  world's  thought  are 
vastly  indebted  to  Christ  for  their  ideas. 
Ruskin  tells  us  that  he  devoted  his  life  not  to 
^ '  the  study  of  the  beautiful  in  face  and  flower, 
in  landscape  and  gallery,  but  to  an  interpre- 
tation of  the  truth  and  bea,uty  of  Jesus 
Christ.''  Were  it  possible  to  go  through  the 
libraries  of  the  world,  those  storehouses  of 
132 


The  Pke-Eminence  of  Cheist. 

human  learning,  and  destroy  every  Christian 
idea  contained  therein,  human  culture  would 
as  a  result  suffer  an  irreparable  loss.  In- 
deed, were  all  thought  destroyed  which  bears 
distinctively  the  Christian  stamp,  the  entire 
structure  of  civilization  would  be  laid  level 
with  the  ground.  Literature  eliminated  of 
all  Christian  teaching  would  become  a  Babel, 
a  confusion  of  tongues. 

It  is,  however,  in  the  realm  of  social  ac- 
tion that  the  influence  of  Christ  appears  as 
nowhere  else.  In  every  sphere  of  activity 
His  spirit  has  wrought  changes  whose  effects 
are  seen  in  the  culture  of  human  character 
and  the  improvement  of  the  social  conditions 
of  men.  As  the  energy  of  the  stone  thrown 
into  the  sea  may  be  measured  by  the  diameter 
of  the  circling  waves  which  are  set  in  motion, 
so  the  influence  of  Jesus  may  be  measured  by 
the  intellectual  enlightenment,  social  reform, 
and  moral  uplift  which  He  has  wrought. 
The  reforms  that  have  been  inaugurated  by 
Christian  nations  for  the  past  nineteen  cen- 
turies have  taken  their  rise  from  the  teach^ 
ing  of  Jesus.  Every  true  reformer  who  has 
eradicated  evils  from  the  social  body,  and 
introduced  a  new  leaven  which  has  changed 
the  face  of  society,  has  found  his  inspiration 

333 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

in  the  life  of  Christ.  ^^The  fundamental 
moral  principles  of  Jesus,  His  golden  rule, 
His  new  commandment,  His  doctrine  of  the 
brotheirhood  of  humanity,  His  substitution  of 
self-denial  for  self-aggrandisement  as  the 
test  of  human  excellence— these  ideas  have 
been  adopted  by  almost  every  thinker  of  re- 
pute.'^ Indeed,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
all  reform  in  politics,  in  social  institutions,  in 
industrial  life  is  traceable  to  the  new  world- 
view  that  Christ  has  given  tO'  mankind. 
Through  His  spirit  prisons  hiave  been  re^ 
formed,  slaves  set  free,  governments  made 
humane,  and  laws  made  just.  He  has  trans- 
formed the  home,  ennobling  womanhood  and 
making  children  sacred.  Martineau  some- 
where observes  that  Jesus  Christ  must  be 
called  the  regenerator  of  the  human  race. 
^'To-day  all  political  economy  is  being  re- 
written in  the  light  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  says  the  greatest  of  economic  writers. 
Christ  is  increasingly  the  inspiration  of  our 
charities  and  philanthropies.  All  the  great 
social  movements  of  our  era  are  centering 
about  Him.  Already  His  teachings  are  the 
watchwords  of  coming  revolutions.  Reform, 
duty,  art,  music,  statesmanship,  philosophy— 
134 


The  Pre-Eminence  of  Christ. 

all  liave  joined  Christ's  triumphal  proces- 
sion/' All  efforts  made  to  break  down  class 
barriers  and  establish  the  equality  of  man 
may  be  traced  to  the  idea  of  brotherhood  as 
conceived  of  by  Clirist.  The  attempts  put 
forth  to  eliminate  poverty  and  elevate  the 
masses  are  due  to  the  fact  that  Jesus  identi- 
fied Himself  with  the  pooir.  Missionary  un- 
dertakings whose  aim  is  to  rescue  men  from 
religious  superstition  and  social  degradationi 
are  the  direct  outcome  of  His  command  to 
preach  His  gospel  to  all  nations.  The  benev- 
olent institutions  which  are  causing  the  earth 
to  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose  are  rooted 
in  His  thought. 

Mr.  Lecky  inspiringly  writes :  ^ '  It  was  re- 
served for  Christianity  to  present  to  the 
world  an  ideal  character  which,  through  all 
the  changes  of  eighteen  centuries,  has  in- 
spired the  hearts  of  men  with  an  impassioned 
love,  has  shown  itself  capable  of  acting  on  all 
ages,  nations,  temperaments,  and  conditions, 
has  been  not  only  the  highest  pattern  of  vir- 
tue, but  the  strongest  incentive  to  its  practice, 
and  has  exercised  so  deep  an  influence  that 
it  may  be  truly  said  that  the  simple  record  of 
three  short  years  of  active  life  has  done  more 

135 


Fundamentals  of  the  Cheistian  Eeligion. 

to  regenerate  and  to  soften  mankind  than  all 
the  disquisitions  of  philosophers,  and  all  the 
exhortations  of  moralists. '  ^ 

An  ancient  legend  tells  ns  that  on  the 
morning  of  the  resurrection  as  Jesus  walked 
away  from>  His  grave  sweet  flowers  sprung 
up  in  His  footsteps  behind  Him.  The  legend 
contains  a  profound  truth.  Since  Christ 
walked  forth  from  His  tomh,  miore  than  eight- 
een centuries  ago,  wherever  His  feet  have 
trod  flowers  possessing  an  immortal  bloom 
have  sprung  up  and  are  filling  the  whole 
world  with  their  fragrance.  His  life  has  been 
the  germinating  force  of  those  flowers  of  love, 
of  kind  deeds,  of  high-born  hopes,  of  moral 
uplift,  of  noble  institutions  whose  presence 
has  been  the  source  of  all  that  is  best  and 
purest  in  the  earth.  All  movements  that 
make  for  enlightenment  and  happiness,  free^ 
dom  and  toleration,  righteousness  and  truth 
must  b^  traced  to  Him.  Wherever  we  find 
men  in  whose  hearts  are  blossoming  the  fruits 
of  love,  joy,  peace,  gentleness,  faith,  and 
goodness,  there  we  discover  the  presence  of 
Christ. 

The  greatness  of  Jesus  must  also  be  esti- 
mated by  the  purity  of  His  life;  the  noble- 
ness that  was  in  Him  must  be  appraised  by 
136 


The  Pre-Eminence  of  Christ. 

His  moral  character.  Judged  by  the  test 
of  moral  integrity,  the  life  of  our  Lord  is 
absolutely  flawless.  Indeed,  in  the  realm  of 
moral  character  Jesus  is  the  only  Being  of 
tlie  sons  of  earth  who  is  perfect.  Neither 
the  ancient  nor  the  modern  world  ever  pro- 
duced one  whose  life  was  stainless.  Christ 
is  the  sole  member  of  the  human  race  who 
presents  to  the  world  a  holy  life.  *^  Never 
has  there  been  but  one  white  soul,  never  but 
one  life  unspotted,  never  but  one  mind  with- 
out stain,  never  but  one  heart  perfect. ' '  ^ '  No 
one  of  our  noblest  men  was  a  spotless  sun; 
no  one  reached  sinless  perfection.  From  all 
our  loftiest  specimens  of  manhood  I  turn 
dissatisfied  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  Him  I  find 
the  ideal  becomes  actual,  the  dream  real, 
and  the  hope  fruition.'* 

There  were  few  things  which  impressed  the 
minds  of  Christ's  disciples  so  thoroughly  as 
the  sinlessness  of  their  Master.  To  be  surei, 
no  proof  of  his  sinlessness  can.  at  this  distance 
be  adduced,  since  the  account  we  have  of  His 
life  is  imperfect.  The  Grospels  give  but  a 
broken  record  of  the  public  ministry  of  Jesus. 
It  has  been  estimated  that  not  more  than 
one-thirtieth  of  His  public  life  has  been  pre- 
served. But  though  the  record  is  incomplete 
137 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

it  gives  us  a  clear  picture  of  His  character 
and  reveals  the  impression  He  made  on  His 
followers.  Those  who  were  nearest  to  Him, 
who  associated  with  Him  daily,  who  shared 
His  privations  and  His  joys,  were  convinced 
that  His  was  a  spotless  life.  The  beloved 
disciple  who  -understood  Him  best  declares 
that  ^^He  was  manifested  to  take  away  our 
sins;  and  in  Him  is  no  sin.''  Peter  testifies 
that  He  ^^did  no  sin,  neither  was  guile  found 
in  His  mouth.''  The  writer  to  the  Hebrews 
asserts  that  He  ^^was  in  all  points  tempted 
like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin."  He  also 
says  that  He  is  ^4ioly,  harmless,  undefiled, 
separate  from  sinners."  And  Paul  adds  his 
testimony  in  the  words,  '^For  He  hath  made 
Him  to  be  sin  for  us,  who  knew  no  sin." 

The  enemies  of  Clirist  produced  the  same 
testimony.  Those  who  consiDired  against 
Jeisus  and  sought  His  death,  when  requested 
to  give  proof  of  His  guilt,  were  unable  to 
adduce  the  least  evidence.  Their  hatred  of 
Him  was  due  to  the  fact  that  He  had  ex- 
posed their  hypocrisies  and  rebuked  their 
sins.  Their  pride  was  hurt.  It  was  for  envy 
they  delivered  Him  to  be  crucified.  Pilate, 
who  condemned  Christ,  was  convinced  of  His 
innocence,  as  seen  in  the  vain  attempt  he 

138 


The  Pre-Eminence  of  Christ. 

made  to  rid  himself  of  all  responsibility  in 
His  death.  Judas,  who  betrayed  Jesus  into 
the  hands  of  His  enemies,  was  overwhelmed 
with  the  enormity  of  his  crime  as  he,  stricken 
with  remorse,  brought  back  the  thirty  pieces 
of  silver  and  casting  them  down  at  the  feet 
of  the  chief  priests,  exclaimed,  ^^I  have  sinned 
in  that  I  have  betrayed  the  innocent  blood." 
And  after  nineteen  centuries  of  critical  study 
of  the  life  of  Christ,  the  verdict  of  mankind 
accords  with  that  of  those  who  hated  Him. 
No  flaw  has  been  discovered  in  His  character. 
^'Enemies  have  searched  His  career  with 
lighted  candles,  but  no  hand  has  been  found 
so  profane  or  vulgar  as  to  tarnish  His  blame- 
less name.'' 

The  impression  made  on  the  minds  of  the 
friends  and  enemies  of  Jesus  is  in  accord 
with  the  consciousness  of  Christ  Himself. 
Jesus  Christ  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
conscious  of  sin  in  His  life.  His  experience 
is  marked,  as  far  as  we  know,  by  an  utter 
absence  of  the  sense  of  guilt.  Even  in  child- 
hood He  is  the  embodiment  of  virtue.  Of 
all  the  children  of  eartli  Jesus  is  the  only 
one  whose  childhood  is  spotless  and  pure. 
The  biography  of  no  man  portrays  his  child- 
hood days  as  being  free  from  the  follies  and 
139 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

waywardness  tliat  cling  to  youth.  But  here 
is  One  in  whose  childhood  are  in  germ  all 
spiritual  excellences  waiting  to  be  unfolded 
in  all  the  beauty  of  a  perfect  character.  So 
beautiful  is  His  life  and  so  attractive  His 
spirit  that  He  is  described  as  being  in  favor 
with  Grod  and  man.  Moreover,  He  increases 
in  wisdom  and  obtains  new  visions  of  things 
divine.  ^^The  child  grew,  waxed  strong  in 
spirit,  filled  with  wisdom;  and  the  grace  of 
Grod  was  upon  Him.''^* 

The  public  life  of  Christ  is  as  free  from 
any  consciousness  of  wrong-doing  as  are  His 
childhood  years.  From  the  day  that  He  goes 
down  to  the  Jordan  to  be  baptized  until  He 
ascends  to  heaven  from  Olivet  we  see  no 
token  of  repentance,  no  confession  of  wrong, 
no  prayer  of  forgiveness.  His  life  is  abso- 
lutely free  from  contrition.  There  is  no  sign 
of  remorse,  no  regret,  no  compunction  of  con- 
science, no  consciousness  of  having  ever 
broken  the  moral  law.  ^^In  all  the  history 
of  His  life  we  are  not  able  to  detect  the 
faintest  indication  that  He  slips  or  falters.*' 
I  do  always.  He  says,  those  things  that  please 
Him.  Bushnell  writes:  ^^The  most  right- 
eous, or  even  self-righteous,  men  blend  ex- 
pressions of  sorrow  and  vows  of  new  obedi- 

140 


The  Pre-Eminence  of  CiiRiST. 

ence  with  their  exercises.  But  Christ  in  the 
character  given  Him  never  acknowledges 
sin.  It  is  the  grand  peculiarity  of  His  piety 
that  He  never  regrets  anything  that  He  has 
done  or  been;  expresses  nowhere  a  single 
feeling  of  compunction,  or  the  least  trace  of 
unworthiness.  On  the  contrary,  He  boldly 
challenges  His  accusers,  in  the  question, 
Which  of  you  convinceth  Me  of  sin?  and 
even  declares  at  the  close  of  His  life,  in  a 
solemn  appeal  to  Grod,  that  He  has  given 
to  men,  unsullied,  the  divine  glory  that  was 
deposited  in  Him."^^  *^From  advent  to  as- 
cension, in  act  and  thought,  in  public  min- 
istry and  in  private  fellowship,  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end  there  is  the  same  sur- 
passing beauty  of  character.'' 

This  sinlessness  on  the  part  of  Christ  dif- 
ferentiates Him  from  all  the  saints  of  his- 
tory; He  alone  wears  the  white  flower  of  a 
blameless  life.  Even  the  best  of  men  have 
fallen  far  short  of  the  full  requirements  of 
the  moral  law.  Indeed,  the  most  spiritually 
minded  men  of  the  race  have  been  deeply 
conscious  of  guilt  as  an  unclean  thing  cling- 
ing to  their  inward  experience.  The  do- 
minion of  sin  over  the  soul,  blinding  the  in- 
tellect, deadening  the  affections,  and  fettering 
141 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

tlie  will,  lias  been  not  a  tJieoiy,  but  the  per- 
sonal exi3erience  of  many  of  the  best  spirits 
of  all  lands.  The  noblest  souls  of  Biblical 
history  were  conscious  of  moral  delinquency. 
From  Abraham,  the  friend  of  God,  who  re- 
cords his  experience  in  the  words,  ' '  I  am  but 
dust  and  ashes,''  down  to  Paul,  who  declares 
that  he  is  the  chief  of  sinners,  all  feel  the 
sense  of  inward  sinfulness.  And  the  experi- 
ence of  every  Bible  saint  has  been  the  experi- 
ence of  eveiry  man.  G-o  through,  if  you  will, 
the  history  of  the  Christian  centuries  and  you 
will  discover  that  the  holiest  men  acknowl- 
edge wrong-doing.  Not  one  of  earth's  saiats 
or  heroes  can  be  pronounced  sialess.  Not  one 
of  the  long  line  of  sages,  teachers,  or  bener 
factors  of  the  race  presents  a  stainless  life. 
Even  those  who  have  been  conspicuous  for 
noble  benefactions  and  for  virtue  in  its  high- 
est reaches  have  displayed  moral  weakness. 
The  great  ones  of  earth  who  have  distin- 
guished themselves  in  knowledge,  in  the  dis- 
play of  noble  qualities,  and  in  service  to  their 
fellows  have  come  short  of  inward  purity. 
Neither  in  Augustine,  Savonarola,  Luther, 
Wesley,  Knox,  Shaftesbury  do  we  find  the 
perfect  man.  By  the  testimony  of  their  own 
lips  all  men  are  convicted  of  sin.  But  in 
142 


The  Pre-Eminence  of  Christ. 

Christ  is  united  in  a  perfect  whole  all  divine 
virtues  and  heavenly  graces;  in  Him  shine 
forth  undinuned  all  justice  and  goodness,  all 
tenderness  and  mercy,  all  wisdom  and  love. 
Our  moral  sense  is  offended  by  no  word  or  act 
of  His.  He  always  speaks  the  right  word 
and  does  the  right  thing.  In  His  entire 
life  tliere  is  not  one  discordant  note.  He 
holds  to  the  path  of  truth  and  virtue  and 
never  takes  a  false  step.  Trner  than  the 
needle  to  the  pole  is  the  conduct  of  Christ 
to  the  moral  ideal.  In  One  alone  has  hu- 
manity reached  its  perfect  type.  In  One 
alone  have  the  powers  of  the  soul  been  re- 
alized in  the  full  blossom  and  beauty  of  moral 
character.  Christ  is  the  flower  of  humanity. 
^^His  soul  was  tilled  with  internal  beauty  and 
purity,  having  no  spot,  distorted  by  no  ob- 
liquity of  view  or  feeling,  lapsing  therefore 
into  no  eccentricity  or  deformity.''  Like  the 
sunbeam,  which  is  compounded  of  the  pri- 
mary colors  of  light,  so  Christ  unites  in  Him- 
self all  moral  virtue  and  excellence.  He  is 
the  purest,  noblest  Being  on  which  human 
eyes  have  ever  gazed. 

A  third  criterion  of  eminence  is  that  of 
intellectual  ability;  power  of  thought  consti- 
tutes one  of  the  elements  of  greatness.    And 

143 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

Christ  was  supreme  in  the  realm  of  intellect. 
The  pages  of  history  present  no  teacher  or 
sage  who  possesses  such  an  intellectual  grasp 
of  truth  as  does  Jesus.  In  His  insight  into 
spiritual  truth,  as  well  a,s  in  His  ability  to 
instruct  men  in  things  divine,  Christ  sur- 
passes the  world's  greateist  teachers.  He, 
among  the  master  minds  of  earth,  is  the  Su- 
preme Teacher  who  speaks  with  authority. 
George  Eomanes,  in  his  *^  Thoughts  on  Ee- 
ligion," observes  that  one  of  the  strongest 
pieces  of  objective  evidences  in  favor  of 
Christianity  consists  in  the  fact  that  none 
of  the  words  of  Christ  ever  pass  away  in 
the  sense  of  becoming  obsolete.  The  growth 
of  human  knowledge— whether  in  natural 
science,  ethics,  political  economy,  or  else- 
where— has  not  in  the  least  discounted  the 
truths  that  Christ  proclaimed.  Contrasted 
with  thinkers  of  like  antiquity,  such  as  Plato, 
the  words  of  Jesus  abide  while  theirs  have 
passed  away  as  far  as  having  had  any  deep 
and  lasting  effect  on  the  moral  life  of  man- 
kind. John  Stuart  Mill  says  that  *^  about  the 
life  and  sayings  of  Jesus  there  is  a  stamp 
of  personal  originality,  combined  with  pro^ 
fundity  of  insight,  which  must  place  the 
Prophet  of  Nazareth  in  the  very  first  rank 

IM 


T'HE  Pke-Eminence  of  Christ. 

of  the  men  of  sublime  genius  of  whom  our 
species  can  boast."   , 

One  fact  which  distinguishes  Jesus  from 
all  other  teachers  is  His  self-assertiveness. 
The  race  presents  no  thinker  who  is  so  sure 
of  the  truth  he  proclaims  as  is  Christ.  He 
assumes  no  air  of  apology  nor  admits  that 
He  may  be  mistaken.  While  others  admit 
that  they  are  liable  to  err,  Christ  instructs 
with  the  conscdousness  that  He  is  an  infal- 
lible teacher.  There  is  such  a  ring  of  cer- 
tainty in  His  words  as  to  carry  conviction 
to  the  minds  of  men.  He  never  expresses 
His  views  nor  offers  His  opinions;  He 
teaches  with  authority.  He  never  speaks  as 
if  He  were  in  doubt;  He  announces  the  truth 
with  absolute  assurance.  He  instructs  ^^with 
an  universal  and  eternal  accent.''  And  this 
self-assertiveness  is  born  of  the  confidence 
that  He  is  in  possession  of  ultimate  truth. 
It  is  this  which  gives  His  message  the  air 
of  finality.  It  is  not  by  the  use  of  argument 
or  dialectic  skill  that  Jesus  wins  the  assent 
of  His  hearers,  but  by  the  deep  conviction 
that  He  possesses  perfect  knowledge.  It  is 
not  by  the  use  of  logic  tliat  He  sets  aside 
those  of  old  time  and  impresses  men  with 
the  majesty  of  His  own  teaching,  but  by  a 

10  145 


Fundamentals  of  the  Chbistian  Eeligion. 

tone  of  autliority  whicli  makes  it  absolutely 
certain  that  in  the  sphere  of  religion  He 
is  supreme.  '^He  impressed  them  as  a 
speaker  who  had  a  warrant  for  what  He  was 
saying,  who  had  unwavering  confidence  in 
what  He  affirmed,  who  felt  an  absolute  certi- 
tude of  His  doctrines,  bearing  down  all  op- 
position by  the  force  and  majesty  of  truth.'' 
He  carries  conviction  to  their  hearts  because 
from  His  own  inner  life  He  speaks  concern- 
ing the  things  which  He  Himself  sees  and 
knows. 

The  question  might  here  be  raised  as  to 
the  sources  from  which  Christ  derived  His 
knowledge.  ^^From  whence  hath  this  Man 
these  things  r'  ^^How  knoweth  this  Man 
letters,  having  iiever  learned  T'  Was  Christ 
acquainted  with  the  philosophical  systems  of 
His  time,  or  did  He  sit  at  the  feet  of  the 
great  Jewish  masters?  Did  He  find  inspira- 
tion in  thje  Rabbinical  literature,  or  did  He 
gather  wisdom  from  the  writings  of  the 
sages  of  other  lands!  Some  have  held  that 
He  was  trained  in  the  Rabbinical  schools  of 
His  day,  while  others  have  affirmed  that  He 
borrowed  His  ideas  from  foreign  sources. 
The  theory  has  been  current  among  certain 
rationalistic  writers  that  He  borrowed  from 

146 


The  Pke-Eminence  of  Chkist. 

the  Essenes,  while  it  has  been  claimed  by 
others  that  He  was  an  imitator  of  the  Jewish 
teacher  Hillel.  The  best  authorities  assure 
us,  however,  that  there  is  positively  no  evi- 
dence that  the  thought  of  Jesus  wa,s  influ- 
enced to  any  marked  extent  by  Jewish  or 
other  schools  of  learning.  At  no  time  did 
He  come  under  the  influence  of  any  great 
teacher,  nor  were  His  ideas  derived  from  the 
literature  of  any  of  the  promdnent  philo- 
sophic and  religious  systems.  ^'He  had  ac- 
cess to  no  famous  school  and  to  no  celebrated 
masters  in  His  own  or  other  countries." 
Harnack  says  that  it  is  very  improbable  that 
Christ  went  through  a,ny  Rabbinical  school, 
for  He  nowhere  speaks  like  a.  man  who  had 
assimilated  any  theological  culture  of  a  tech- 
nical kind,  or  learned  the  art  of  scholarly 
exegesis.  He  also  asserts  that  it  is  abso- 
lutely impossible  to  maintain  that  He  was 
in  any  way  influenced  by  Greek  philosophers, 
or  was  ever  in  touch  with  the  thoughts  of 
Plato  or  the  Porch.  The  attempts  made  to 
prove  that  Christ  derived  His  doctrine  from 
the  Essenes,  the  Persians,  and  the  religions 
of  Eg}^pt  have  also  palpably  failed.  Eder- 
sheim,  in  ^'The  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus  the 
Messiah,''  tells  us  we  may  feel  certain  that 

147 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

the  te aching  of  Christianity  had  no  connec- 
tion with  Essenism.  Indeed,  the  teaching 
of  Christianity  is  in  many  respects  the  oppo- 
site of  that  of  Essenism.  To  be  sure,  Christ 
incorporated  all  the  current  lofty  conceptions 
of  God  and  man  that  were  known  to  Him  into 
His  own  teacliing.  He  adopted  all  tJie  re- 
ligious truth  and  ethical  wisdom  of  the  an- 
cient world  with  which  He  was  acquainted. 
He  made  all  truth  His  own,  from  whatever 
sources  gathered.  The  chief  text-books,  how- 
ever, which  Christ  studied  were  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures,  the  volume  of  nature,  and  the 
book  of  human  life.  These  were  the  sources 
that  fed  the  flames  of  His  genius  and  fur- 
nished Him  the  material  from  which  He 
forged  ideals  of  life  that  are  even  to-day 
not  fully  appreciated.  Tliese  were  the  human 
antecedents  of  that  spiritual  code,  that  rule 
of  conduct,  which  Christ  gave  and  which  is 
aiS  universal  and  as  binding  on  men  now  as 
when  first  given. 

To  what  extent  was  Christ  an  original 
teacher?  Did  Jesus  reveal  to  men  spiritual 
certainties  of  which  they  before  were  igno- 
rant? Did  He  possess  knowledge  that  had 
been  denied  the  prophets  and  sages  of  past 
ages  I     Did  He  solve  problems  which  here- 

148 


T^E  Pee-Eminence  of  Christ. 

tofore  had  been  considered  insoluble?  While 
the  mental  reach  of  Christ  in  matters  per- 
taining to  the  moral  and  spiritual  life  was 
greater  than  that  possessed  by  other  world- 
thinkers,  we  nevertheless  believe  that  the 
claim  made  by  many  writers  that  He  gave 
to  the  world  a  new  set  of  ideas  is  a  mis- 
taken one.  Jesus  Christ  was  not  an  original 
teacher  in  the  sense  that  He  gave  to  the  race 
a  new  system  of  truth.  Indeed,  it  might  be 
possible  to  select  from  the  works  of  the 
world's  great  teachers  the  same  truths  in 
substance  that  Christ  taught,  with  perhaps 
a  few  notable  exceptions.  While  the  doctrine 
that  He  poured  out  concerning  God  was  as 
beautiful  as  the  sunlight,  it  was  but  the  full- 
orbed  vision  of  the  broken  views  which  good 
and  true  men  had  in  all  ages  entertained  of 
the  Divine  Being.  His  task  was  not  to  annul, 
but  to  carry  to  completion  the  work  of  the 
ancient  teachers.  He  came  not  to  destroy, 
but  to  fulfill.  As  the  glory  of  the  noonday 
does  not  destroy,  but  absorbs  and  completes 
the  morning  twilight,  so  the  truth  that  Christ 
presented  did  not  cancel,  but  completed  the 
ideas  concerning  man  and  God  which  sage 
and  prophet  had  brought  mankind.  The 
originality  of  Jesus,  therefore,  did  not  con- 

149 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

sist  so  mucli  in  presenting  trntli  wliicli  before 
was  not  known  to  men,  as  in  clothing  old  truth 
with  a  new  life.  He  made  old  truths  glow 
and  burn  until  they  became  a  living  force 
in  the  creation  of  character.  *^  There  was 
power  in  them— as  there  always  is  power  in 
the  truth,  when  properly  presented,  to  stir 
the  feelings,  rouse  the  conscience,  and  sway 
the  will."  With  the  words  that  He  spoke 
He  united  the  power  of  a  living  personality. 
His  words  had  behind  them  the  force  of  a 
life  that  was  irresistible.  That  was  the  ele- 
ment that  wa,s  new.  That  was  how  He  dif- 
fered from  other  teachers. 

Moreover,  it  must  not  be  overlooked  that 
Jesus  Christ  nowhere  puts  forth  the  claim 
that  He  is  a,cquainted  with  all  Iniowledge. 
There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  He  had 
taken  all  truth  to  be  His  province.  There 
were  many  fields  of  learning  which  to  Him 
seemed  to  be  a  closed  book.  It  was  not  His 
mission  to  instruct  men  concerning  such  mat- 
ters as  science,  philosophy,  and  history.  He 
did  not  feel  it  His  duty  to  correct  false  scien- 
tific conceptions,  solve  profound  metaphysical 
problems,  or  impart  historical  knowledge. 
Such  matters  lay  wholly  outside  His  field.  He 
dealt  wholly  in  moral  and  spiritual  certain- 

150 


The  Pee-Eminence  of  Christ. 

ties.  His  work  as  a  Teacher  was  to  instruct 
men  in  things  pertaining  to  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  He  has  been  called  the  High  Priest  of 
the  Divine  Nature.  He  came  to  open  up  anew 
the  stream  of  revelation  until  the  moral  con- 
sciousness of  the  people,  which  long  had  been 
stagnant  under  the  theological  pedantry  of 
the  Jewish  rabbis,  flowed  again  full  and  free. 
His  task  was  to  impart  new  visions  of  God 
a.nd  to  reveal  to  men  their  glorious  heritage. 
Christ  moved  in  the  spiritual  reahn  and  shed 
a  light  that  becomes  more  and  more  luminous 
with  time.  For  man's  spiritual  nature  He 
is  without  doubt  earth's  most  illuminating 
Teacher. 

The  living  truths  that  fell  from  the  lips 
of  Jesus  Christ  and  around  which  His  teach- 
ing centered  were  those  concerning  the  char- 
acter of  God,  His  relation  to  the  world,  the 
Divine  Fatherhood,  a  loving  Redeemer,  the 
divine  nature  within  man,  the  pardon  of  sin, 
the  regeneration  of  the  soul,  an  indwelling 
Spirit,  communion  with  God,  good-will 
towards  men,  the  reign  of  love  upon  earth, 
and  the  life  everlasting.  *^  These  are  the 
themes  of  Jesus,  and  on  them  He  has  said 
the  last  word.  He  cleansed  away  the  mists 
that  hung  round  the  loftiest  reaches  of  truth, 

151 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

and  has  made  plain  tlie  soul's  way  unto  God. 
No  one  can  deny  tliat  Jesus  has  given  to  man- 
kind what  deserves  to  be  called  the  truth." 
Although  the  sphere  of  Christ  was.  reli- 
gion, it  must,  however,  be  kept  in  mind  that 
He  nowhere  gave  minute  instructions  con- 
cerning the  divers  questions  that  pertain  to 
the  spiritual  life  of  mankind.  The  time  at 
His  command  was  too  brief  to  discuss  fully 
the  problems  that  center  around  the  reli- 
gious life.  Even  if  He  had  given  precise 
instructions,  they  would  soon  have  become 
obsolete  with  the  chianging  conditions  of  so- 
ciety. "What  He  gave  were  rules  of  action, 
and  not  detailed  guidance.  He  laid  down 
basic  principles  on  which  each  may  build  a 
perfect  manhood.  He  formulated  rules  of 
conduct  which  might  be  worked  out  and 
applied  to  the  whole  round  of  daily  ac- 
tion. '  ^  Jesus  taught  the  world  various  prin- 
ciples of  religion— the  nature  of  faith,  the 
glory  of  sacrifice^  the  secret  of  peaces  the 
strength  of  love^"  To  be  sure,  it  has  been 
asserted  that  the  avowed  aim,  of  Christ  was 
to  solve  for  all  time  those  problems 
which  have  their  root  in  the  body  politic 
Some  have  professed  to  have  discovered  in 
the  gospel  of  Christ  an  economic  program 

152 


The  Pee-Eminence  of  Christ. 

covering  the  many  questions  that  vex  the 
social  body.  Others  have  affirmed  that  Chris- 
tianity in  its  origin  was  a  social  movement 
whose  aim  was  to  bring  relief  to  the  op- 
pressed classes.  Those,  however,  who  go  to 
the  teachings  of  Jesus  seeking  a  solution  of 
social  and  economic  problems  are  from  the 
start  doomed  to  disappointment.  Christ 
formulated  no  doctrine  on  social,  industrial, 
or  political  questions.  "What  He  did  was  to 
give  us  living  principles  which,  when  applied 
to  the  social  organism,  have  power  to  elimr 
inate  the  evils  that  afflict  it.  Like  the  self- 
evident  truths  of  mathematics  on  which  are 
constructed  great  intellectual  systems,  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  furnish  the  basis  of  all 
moral  and  spiritual  development.  As  the 
majestic  oak  is  contained  potentially  in  the 
acorn,  so  within  the  truth  that  Christ  taught 
lies  implicitly  a  power  which  is  able  to  trans- 
form society.  We  doubt  not  that  if  the  teach- 
ing of  Jesus  were  applied  to  such  questions 
as  the  relation  of  capital  to  labor,  the  atti- 
tude of  the  white  man  to  the  black  man,  the 
obligations  of  the  body  politic  to  the  criminal 
classes,  the  proper  use  of  wealth,  the  attitude 
of  society  to  the  drink  traffic,  the  duty  of  the 
State  to  the  unemployed,  and  the  regulation 
153 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

of  monopolies  and  trusts,  a  solution  satis- 
factory to  all  would  at  once  be  reached. 
^ '  Christianity, ' '  says  Eothe,  **  bears  in  itself 
the  power  of  forming  the  State  and  of  de- 
veloping it  to  its  full  completeness/^  The 
application  of  tlie  Golden  Eule  of  Jesus, 
which  Locke  designated  as  the  foundation  of 
all  social  virtue,  to  existing  social  conditions 
would  literally  renew  the  face  of  the  earth 
and  raise  society  to  a  state  of  material  power 
and  spiritual  exaltation  undreamed  of  by  re- 
former or  seer.  His  teaching  is  fitted,  if 
obeyed,  ^Ho  make  earth  all  that  a  finite  and 
material  scene  can  be,  and  man  only  a  little 
lower  than  the  angels. '^ 

It  must,  moreover,  not  be  overlooked  that 
Jesus  was  in  His  life  and  conduct  what  He 
Himself  taught.  His  life  was  a  perfect  tran- 
script of  His  own  teaching.  He  embodied 
in  His  own  experience  the  tiaith  that  He  gave 
to  others.  The  religion  of  love  which  He 
preached  found  its  noblest  representation  in 
Himself.  Did  He  proclaim  the  Kingdom  of 
God  as  the  summation  of  all  blessedness? 
He  Himself  was  a  loyal  member  of  that  King- 
dom. Did  He  preach  self-denial  as  a  neces- 
sary condition  of  entrance  into  His  King- 
dom? He  denied  Himself,  even  to  the  lay- 
154 


The  Pre-Eminence  of  Christ. 

ing  down  of  His  own  life.  Did  He  teach 
that  God  was  the  Father  of  men  and  that 
union  with  Him  was  man's  highest  attain- 
ment and  chief  joy  1  He  lived  in  daily  fellow- 
ship with  His  Father  in  heaven.  Did  He 
command  His  disciples  to  love  all  men,  even 
tlieir  enemies?  He  loved  all,  even  His  ene- 
mies. ^ '  Christ  lived  as  He  taught.  He  bade 
men  lose  their  lives  and  He  lost  His ;  He 
bade  men  trample  the  world  under  foot  and 
He  trampled  it;  He  commanded  men  to  love, 
and  He  loved  even  unto  death.'' 

He,  too,  taught  that  He  was  the  truth. 
He  was  not  merely  a  Teacher  of  the  truth; 
He  Himself  was  its  source  and  essence. 
Truth  was  a  part  of  His  very  being.  Others 
had  speculated  concerning  the  truth  and  had 
proposed  methods  by  which  it  might  be 
reached,  but  Jesus  declared,  ^^I  am  the 
truth."  He  was  the  truth  because  He  lived 
it;  in  His  life  it  found  its  full  and  perfect 
expression.  His  life  demonstrated  the  re- 
ligion He  proclaimed. 

"  And  so  the  Word  had  breath,  and  wrought 
With  human  hands  the  creed  of  creeds 
In  loveliness  of  perfect  deeds, 
More  strong  than  all  poetic  thought.'* 


155 


"Let  us  make  man  in  our  image,— Genesis  1:26. 

**  On  earth  there  is  nothing  great  but  man ;  in  man 
there  is  nothing  great  but  mind." 

— Sir  William  Hamilton. 

**  Were  I  as  tall  to  reach  the  pole, 
Or  grasp  the  ocean  in  my  span, 
I  must  be  measured  by  my  soul. 
The  mind's  the  standard  of  the  man." 

— Isaac  Watts. 

''Man  is  neither  the  master  nor  the  slave  of  nature ; 
he  is  its  interpreter  and  living  word.  Man  consummates 
the  universe,  and  gives  a  voice  to  the  mute  creation." 

— Ed.  Quinbt. 


CHAPTER  V. 
MAN  IN  THE  IMAGE  OF  GOD. 

The  oldest  declaration  made  concerning  man 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures  is  that  he  has  his 
origin  in  God.  The  opening  words  of  divine 
revelation  affirm  that  he  has  a  divine  an- 
cestry. His  parentage  is  traced  back  to  the 
Infinite,  whose  likeness  he  bears.  ^^Let  ns/' 
says  God,  ^^make  man  in  our  image." 

As  to  the  exact  meaning  of  the  phrase, 
*^the  image  of  God,"  commentators  are  not 
agreed.  Various  theories  are  advanced  in 
explanation  of  the  term  as  used  by  the  Bib^ 
lical  writer.  Some  hold  that  it  denotes 
reason,  freedom,  and  the  moral  sense,  while 
others  assert  that  it  signifies  man's  ability 
to  rule.  One  class  of  writers  teach  that  it 
refers  to  man's  mental  powers,  while  an- 
other limit  it  to  his  dominion  over  the  world 
of  nature.  The  foraier  view  is  doubtless  the 
correct  one.  Sovereignty  or  dominion  over 
the  physical  realm  and  the  animal  world  is 
a  function  of  man  and  not  an  essential  con- 
159 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

stituent  of  his  na,ture.  While  it  is  rooted 
in  his  intellectual  powers,  it  must  be  re- 
garded as  one  of  his  activities  and  not  that 
in  which  his  kinship  to  his  Creator  consists. 
It  is  man's  mental  and  moral  qualities  and 
not  any  mere  temporal  rule  that  constitute 
his  likeness  to  Grod.  It  is  in  the  capacities 
of  the  human  soul  that  the  image  of  Grod 
is  found.  Man's  kinship  to  the  Divine  con- 
sists in  that  which  belongs  to  man  as  such, 
that  which  constitutes  his  distinctive  nature, 
something  inalienable,  and  not  an  expression 
of  his  ability.  Oehler  describes  it  as  the 
*^  whole  dignity  of  man,  in  virtue  of  which 
human  nature  is  sharply  distinguished  from 
that  of  the  beasts."  Dr.  Driver  asserts  tliat 
it  is  the  gift  of  self-conscious  reason  with 
all  that  it  implies  which  forms  the  image 
of  God  in  man.  Man  is  allied  to  God  in  the 
possession  of  the  intellectual  faculties  with 
which  he  is  endowed.  *^Wliat  reason  and 
judgment  and  memory  and  love  in  the  small 
are  in  man,  that  they  are  in  the  large  in  the 
great  God."  In  his  creative  ability,  by 
means  of  which  he  makes  progress  in  all 
that  tends  to  the  enrichment  of  his  life ;  in  his 
power  of  self-direction,  which  lies  at  the  baisis 
of  all  moral  development;  in  his  amenable- 

160 


Man  in  the  Image  of  God. 

ness  to  moral  law,  in  his  power  to  eoater  into 
relations  of  love  and  sympathy  with  his  fel- 
lows, and  in  the  possession  of  a  spiritual 
nature,  by  which  he  communes  with  God,  man 
may  be  said  to  be  an  image  of  his  Creator. 
This  view  of  man,  held  by  the  early  He- 
brew prophet,  is  shared  by  other  Old  Testa- 
ment writers.  Job  teaches  that  man  is  of 
divine  lineage  and  has  his  being  in  God. 
^^The  Spirit  of  God,''  he  says,  ^^hath  made 
me,  and  the  breath  of  the  Almighty  hath 
given  me  life. ' '  The  psalmist,  too,  as  he  be- 
holds God's  wonderful  works  and  reflects  on 
the  divine  love,  is  convinced  that  man  has  a 
divine  origin.    In  wonder  he  exclaims : 

'*  When  I  consider  Thy  heavens, 'the  work  of  Thy  fingers, 
The  moon  and  the  stars  which  Thou  hast  ordained ; 
What  is  man  that  Thou  art  mindful  of  him  ? 
And  the  son  of  man  that  Thou  visitest  him  ? 
For  Thou  hast  made  him  a  little  lower  than  the  angels, 
And  hast  crowned  him  with  glory  and  honor." 

The  valuation  placed  by  Christ  on  man 
accords  with  the  high  estimate  placed  on  him 
by  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  Christ  teaches 
that  every  man  is  a  child  of  God.  It  is  true 
that  Jesus  nowhere  attempts  to  prove  that 
the  human  being  comes  from  God  and  is  in 
his  nature  divine.    Nowhere  does  He  attempt 

11  161 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

to  establish  the  truth  that  the  soul  is  essen- 
tially like  God  in  its  moral  and  spiritual 
qualities.  Nowhere  do  we  find  any  doctrine 
of  the  soul,  its  origin,  its  nature,  its  powers. 
Christ  assumes  that  man  has  his  origin  in 
heaven  and  ^^is  a  miniature  of  the  Divine  Be- 
ing.'' He  takes  it  for  granted  that  man  is 
a  spirit,  possessing  vast  capacities,  divine 
potentialities,  and  is  heir  to  an  immortal  des- 
tiny. He  proclaims  that  the  soul  is  of  price- 
less worth.  Man  is  ^*a  being  who  is  capable 
of  the  highest,  the  brightest,  the  most  glori- 
ous destiny."  He  is  a  being  of  ''large  dis- 
course, looking  before  and  after."  On  earth 
there  is  nothing  that  can  be  compared  in 
value  to  a  human  life.  So  great  is  the  soul, 
says  Christ,  that  with  its  loss  the  gain  of 
the  whole  world  is  as  nothing.  Man  is  es- 
sentially spirit  *^and  is  linked  with,  because 
derived  from  God,  who  is  Spirit."  He  is 
not  an  automaton  nor  an  emergence  from  the 
brute,  but  a  self-conscious  and  free  being 
who  is  a  child  of  the  Most  High.  Harnack 
writes:  ''Jesus  Christ  was  the  first  to  bring 
the  value  of  every  human  soul  to  light,  and 
what  He  did  no  one  can  any  more  undo.  We 
may  take  up  what  relation  to  Him  we  will; 
in  the  history  of  the  past  no  one  can  refuse 

162 


Man  in  the  Image  of  God. 

to  recognize  that  it  was  He  who  raised  hu- 
manity to  this  level.'' 

Moreover,  in  His  estimate  of  man  Christ 
shifts  the  emphasis  from  the  accidental  and 
non-essential  to  the  real  and  abiding. 
Hitherto  birth,  wealth,  position  were  the 
standards  by  which  human  worth  had  been 
determined,  but  Christ  discovers  in  character 
and  in  manhood  the  true  essentials  of  the 
soul.  According  to  Jesus,  the  value  of  the 
individiual  consists  not  in  outward  posses- 
sions, not  in  social  rank,  not  in  anything 
that  is  of  the  earth,  earthy,  but  in  his  spir- 
itual nature  with  its  capacities  and  powers. 
Christ  looks  beneath  the  artificial  distinc- 
tions that  divide  men,  He  sees  through  all 
the  false  tinsel  of  life,  and  discovers  in  the 
soul  within  man's  true  dignity  and  worth. 
He  ^^ placed  His  finger  upon  the  soul,  cap- 
italized manhood,  and  made  the  name  of  man 
a  title  superior  to  that  of  ruler  and  lord." 
He  teaches  that  even  in  the  humblest  bosom 
there  are  rich  possibilities  and  noble  facul- 
ties capable  of  endless  development.  *^  Jesus 
Christ  calls  to  every  poor  soul;  He  calls  to 
every  one  who  bears  a  human  face:  You  are 
children  of  the  living  God,  and  not  only 
better  than  many  sparrows,  but  of  more 
163 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

value  than  the  whole  world.''  And  what 
others  fail  to  see  in  human  nature  Christ 
sees  and  values.  Beneath  the  uncouth  and 
rough  exterior  He  sees  hidden  powers  po- 
tential witli  life,  with  manhood,  with  moral 
loveliness.  While  others  turn  away  from  tlie 
publican,  the  outcast,  the  harlot,  Christ  lin- 
gers and  is  deeply  moved  a,s  He  discerns  in 
each  a  moral  germ  from  which  may  spring 
flowers  of  kindness,  of  self-sacrifice,  of  love. 
Amid  the  most  unfavorable  surroundings  of 
the  soul,  amid  sordidness,  obscurity,  selfish- 
ness, moral  leprosy,  He  beliolds  latent  pos- 
sibilities which  may  issue  forth,  into  sweet- 
ness and  nobility.  In  the  meanest  and  worst 
of  men  He  sees  a  dignity  and  a,  worth  that 
must  be  redeemed  to  a  life  of  service  and 
blessedness.  He  discerns  in  the  woman  who 
is  a  sinner  and  kneels  at  His  feet  ^^  elements 
of  womanhood  of  the  finest  quality,  waiting 
for  disenthrallment. "  He  sees  in  Zacchaeus, 
the  publican,  with  his  ill-gotten  gain,  tbat 
hunger  after  a  better  life  which  constitutes 
him  a  potential  citizen  of  the  Kingdom'  of 
God.  He  bebolds  in  the  woman  of  Samaria, 
degraded  in  soul  and  despised  by  the  Jews 
as  she  was,  a  spiritual  nature  which  is  cap- 
able of  receiving  the  loftiest  truth.    Like  the 

164 


Man  in  the  Image  of  God. 

precious  jewel  which  sparkles  and  shines  by 
means  of  a  wondrous  light  within,  so  Jesus 
discerns  in  the  human  heart  a  beauty  which 
may  flash  forth  with  a  radiance  divine.  He 
sees  in  the  dullard,  the  commonplace  man, 
the  possibility  of  service.,  heroism,  sainthood. 
^^With  words  of  matchless  eloquence  He 
called  about  Him  the  multitudes,  the  children 
of  poverty  and  ignorance,  the  children  of 
sickness  and  suffering,  the  publican  and  the 
prodigal,  and  lifted  above  all  alike  a  banner 
inscribed,  not  with  those  words  called  wis- 
dom or  riches  or  birth,  but  with  the  words, 
*Made  in  the  image  of  Grod.'  " 

To  ordinary  eyes  the  disciples  of  Jesus, 
those  uncouth  fishermen  of  Galilee,  were  or- 
dinary men  possessing  no  special  gifts  and 
incapable  of  any  high  enthusiasm,  but  a,s  seen 
by  Christ  they  possess  latent  energies  which 
when  awakened  transform  them  into  great 
moral  leaders.  He  beholds  them  setting  in 
motion  new  spiritual  tides  which  will  ulti- 
mately lave  ihe  shores  of  every  continent  and 
isle  with  health  and  blessing.  He  sees  them 
going  forth  to  heroic  struggle,  to  persecution, 
and  to  death.  He  sees  them  surcharged  with 
His  own  high  devotion  to  righteousness  and 
truth  until  they  in  turn  surcharge  the  lives 
165 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

of  multitudes  with  the  same  lofty  ideal. 
From  common  laborers  they  rise  to  be  work- 
ers of  good  deeds,  exemplars  in  self-sacrifice, 
and  imitators  of  their  Divine  Lord. 

Dr.  Lyman  Abbott  reminds  us  that  the 
great  poets  as  well  as  the  prophets  of  the 
Bible  teach  that  God  dwells  in  man  and  is 
coming  to  the  manifestation  of  Himself  in 
developing  redeemed  humanity.  He  recalls 
the  fact  that  George  MacDonald,  in  one  of  his 
beautiful  poems,  tells  us  that  the  babe  got 
the  blue  of  his  eyes  as  he  came  through  the 
blue  sky.  In  one  place  the  poet  speaks  of  the 
kiss  of  the  angel  that  blesses  the  child  on  its 
way  to  earth.  Wordsworth,  in  his  **  Intima- 
tions of  Immortality,"  asserts  that  the  soul 
comes  from  God,  and  that  its  entrance  into 
the  world  is  attended  with  celestial  light.  In 
eloquent  strains  he  sings: 

"  Our  birth  is  but  a  sleep  and  a  forgetting ; 
The  soul  that  rises  with  us,  our  life's  star, 
Hath  had  elsewhere  its  setting, 
And  Cometh  from  afar  ; 
Not  in  entire  forge tfulness. 
And  not  in  utter  nakedness, 
But  trailing  clouds  of  glory  do  we  come 
From  God,  who  is  our  home: 
Heaven  lies  about  us  in  our  infancy." 

166 


Man  in  the  Image  of  God. 

This,  to  be  sure,  is  fancy.  But  in  the  imagin- 
ings of  the  poet  there  is  profound  truth. 
*^  We  need  not  believe  that  this  aspiration  that 
shows  itself  in  the  pure  mind  of  a  little  child 
is  a  trailing  glory  that  he  has  brought  with 
him  from  some  pre-existent  state.  We  need 
not  think  tJiat  it  is  physiological  fact  that  the 
sky  colored  the  eyes  of  the  babe  a,s  the  babe 
came  through.  But  beyond  all  this  imagery 
is  the  vision  of  the  poet.  God  in  man;  a 
divine  life  throbbing  in  humanity;  man  the 
offspring  of  God;  man  coming  forth  from 
the  eternal  and  going  forth  into  the  eter- 
nal.''^^ 

The  Christian  religion  teaches  that  man 
has  been  created  in  the  intellectual  image 
of  God.  Christianity  affirms  that  man  shares 
with  his  Creator  a  common  mental  life. 
Man's  intellectual  likeness  to  God  is  seen 
in  the  power  of  the  human  mind  to  inter- 
pret physical  nature,  the  work  of  God,  in 
terms  of  thought.  The  material  world  in 
which  we  live  is  a  thought  structure,  a  temple 
that  reveals  intelligence,  an  edifice  that  is 
full  of  mind.  *^Both  in.  its  form  and  in  its 
arrangement  it  is  crammed  with  mathematics 
and  chemistry  and  logic."  The  visible  uni- 
167 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

verse  is  constructed  on  mathematical  prin- 
ciples. Nature's  processes  contain  an  exacts 
ness  of  relation  that  surpasses  the  finest 
adaptations  of  human  skill.  The  forces  of 
nature  can  be  expressed  *4n  the  most  pre- 
cise mathematical  formulae.''  The  law  of 
gravitation,  which  controls  all  objects,  small 
and  great^  far  and  near,  is  mathematically 
described.  The  motions  of  the  heavenly 
bodies  may  be  expressed  in  the  same  terms. 
One  writer  says  that  *^the  heavens  are  crys- 
tallized mathematics."  The  chemical  ele- 
ments combine  in  strict  numerical  propor- 
tions. Crystals  are  formed  on  geometrical 
laws.  The  snowflake  is  a  mathematical  gem. 
Plant  life  develops  under  the  same  mechan- 
ical rules.  The  chemical  and  physical  proc- 
esses which  first  clothed  the  fields  with  life 
and  beauty  are  identical  with  those  that  still 
cause  the  plain  and  meadow  to  rejoice. 

Now,  it  is  evident  that  the  scientist  who 
discovers  and  interprets  the  laws  which  are 
writ  large  in  nature  does  not  create  those 
laws.  Science  is  not  the  creator  of  the  prin- 
ciples whicb  underlie  the  material  universe; 
it  merely  reproduces  and  announces  them. 
The  rational  system  which  science  but  par- 
168 


Man  in  the  Image  of  God. 

tially  reveals  existed  prior  to  the  advent  of 
man.  Science  simply  reads  out  what  is  con- 
tained within.  In  a  word,  when  the  scientist 
discovers  and  formulates  the  laws  of  the 
physical  universe  he  is  deciphering  the 
thoughts  of  its  Author.  As  he  studies  the 
principles  implicit  in  the  world  and  trans- 
lates them  into  human  speech,  he  is  inter- 
preting the  divine  ideas  which  have  been  ex- 
pressed in  material  symbols.  From  this  the 
inference  is  clear  that  ^^Grod  and  man  are 
essentially  alike  in  mental  structure."  Be- 
tween the  Infinit.e  and  the  finite  a  funda- 
mental kinship  exists.  Man  reproduces  the 
ideas  of  God  because  he  is  a  partaker  of 
the  divine  nature.  He  deciphers  the  mean- 
ing of  the  physical  world  and  thus  enters 
into  God's  thought  because  his  mind  is  a 
counterpart  of  his  Creator's.  Indeed,  sci- 
ence is  possible  only  on  the  assumption  that 
the  reason  we  find  in  ourselves  is  a  reflex 
of  the  divine  rea,son.  Did  not  the  laws  of 
thought  correspond  with  those  of  funda- 
mental being,  God  could  not  reveal  Himself 
to  man  nor  could  man  understand  the  works 
of  God.  Goethe  has  well  expressed  this  idea 
in  the  following  lines : 
169 


Fundamentals  of  the  Chkistian  Eeligion. 

"  War'  nicht  das  Auge  sonnenhaft, 
Die  Sonne  konnt'  es  nie  erblicken ; 
Lag'  nicht  in  uns  des  Gottes  eigne  kraft, 
Wie  konnt'  uns  Gottliches  eutziicken?" 

The  great  astronomer,  Kepler,  after  kav- 
ing  brooded  witJi  tlie  whole  energy  of  his 
mind  on  the  numbeir,  the  size,  the  motion 
of  the  jDlanets,  finally  elaborated  a  theory  as 
to  their  moivements.  This  theory,  the  product 
of  his  own  thought,  he  held  to  be  a  true 
representation  of  the  planetary  bodies.  One 
night  he  turned  his  telescope  to  the  heavens 
to  ascertain  if  the  actual  orbits  of  the  planets 
were  in  harmony  with  the  scheme  he  had 
worked  out.  Imagine  his  surprise  on  find- 
ing an  exact  correspondence  between  his  plan 
and  the  celestial  order.  Little  wonder  that 
he  shouted  out  in  the  silence  of  the  night, 
^^0  G-od!  I  am  reading  Thy  thoughts  after 
Thee.''  The  mind  grasps  the  vast  intellec- 
tual conceptions  in  the  universe  and  trans- 
lates them  into'  human  language  because 
there  exists  between  it  and  the  Infinite  Mind 
an  essential  similarity.  **Man,  the  servant 
and  interpreter  of  nature,  is  also,  and  is 
thereby,  the  servant  and  interpreter  of  the 
living  God.'' 

Man  has  been  created  in  the  aesthetic 
170 


Man  in  the  Image  of  God. 

nature  of  God.  By  this  we  mean  that  man 
is  the  possessor  of  artistic  ideals  like  unto 
those  by  which  God  has  fashioned  the  world. 
Now,  it  is  evident  to  all  that  the  world  is  full 
of  loveliness.  From  its  center  to  the  outer- 
most rim  it  is  crammed  with  beauty.  And 
this  loveliness  is  of  divine  origin.  The 
Church  Father,  Athenagoras,  has  said: 
^^For  beauty  on  earth  is  not  self-made,  but 
sent  hither  by  the  hand  and  will  of  God." 
John  Euskin  held  that  ^'The  foundation  of 
beauty  in  the  world  is  the  presence  of  God 
in  it.''  The  same  truth  is  finely  expressed 
by  Dr.  A.  H.  Strong  in  the  following  words : 
*^As  finite  truth  and  goodness  are  compre- 
hensible only  in  the  light  of  some  absolute 
principle  which  furnishes  for  them  an  ideal 
standard,  so  finite*  beauty  is  inexplicable  ex- 
cept as  there  exists  a  perfect  stiandard  with 
which  it  may  be  compared.  The  beautiful  is 
more  than  the  agreeable  or  the  useful.  Pro- 
portion, order,  harmony,  unity  in  diversity- 
all  these  are  characteristics  of  beauty.  But 
they  all  imply  an  intellectual  and  spiritual 
Being,  from  whom'  they  proceed  and  by  whom 
they  can  be  measured.  Both  physical  and 
moral  beauty  in  finite  things  and  beings  are 
symbols  and  manifestations  of  Him  who  is 
171 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

tlie  Author  and  Lover  of  beauty,  and  who  is 
Himself  the  Infinite  and  Absolute  Beauty.  "^^ 

The  psalmist  beheld  the  divine  beauty  and 
grandeur  in  the  midnight  sky  with  its  con- 
stellations swinging  from  horizon  to  zenith 
and  its  planets  rolling  in  their  orbits.  ^^The 
heavens/'  he  wrote,  ^^ declare  the  glory  of 
God,  and  thei  firmament  sheweth  His  handi- 
work.'' Linnaeus  once  said  of  the  unfolding 
of  a  blossom,  ^'I  saw  G-od  in  His  glory  pass- 
ing near  me,  and  bowed  my  head  in  worship. ' ' 
An  old  Scotchman  tells  us  that  it  was  his 
custom  every  morning  for  twenty  years  to 
go  outside  his  cottage  door  and  uncover  his 
head  to  the  beauty  of  the  world. 

The  world  is  a  great  picture  gallery  on 
the  walls  of  which  God  has  hung  up  the  mas- 
terpieces of  His  wisdom  and  skill.  Every- 
where on  the  face  of  nature  the  Divine 
Artist  has  drawn  His  pictures  with  colors  in- 
finitely richer  than  ever  conceived  of  by  a 
Eubens  or  a  Raphael.  God  has  made  the 
world  so  beautiful  that  the  painter's  brush 
is  in  despair.  ^^The  passing  seasons,  with 
the  majesty  of  summer  and  the  sanctity  of 
winter,  represent  the  canvas  upon  which  He 
portrays  His  passing  thoughts."  The  wild 
flowers  that  carpet  the  fields,  the  sweet  buds 
172 


Man  in  the  Image  of  God. 

and  blossoms  of  spring,  the  autumnal  forest 
with  its  green  and  gold,  and  the  glory  of 
the  setting  sun  disclose  the  divine  loveliness. 
The  blue  of  the  sky,  the  breast  of  the  robin, 
the  cup  of  the  violet,  the  wing  of  the  insect, 
the  snow-capped  moimtain  peak,  and  the  tall 
pine  forest  reveal  the  wealth  of  the  mind  and 
heart  of  God. 

"  A  haze  on  the  far  horizon, 

The  infinite,  tender  sky, 
The  ripe,  rich  fruits  of  the  corn-flelds, 

And  the  wild  geese  sailing  high  ; 
And  all  over  upland  and  lowland 

The  charm  of  the  goldenrod, 
Some  of  us  call  it  Autumn, 

And  others  call  it  God." 

Now,  it,  is  evident  that  we  appreciate  the 
beautiful  in  the  world,  which  as  we  have  seen 
is  the  work  of  God,  because  we  share  with 
God  His  nature  and  ideals.  We  partake  of 
the  divine  loveliness  because  there  is  an  es- 
sential kinship  between  our  souls  and^  the 
Infinite.  Did  there  not  exist  a  fundamental 
likeness  between  the  soul  of  man  and  the 
mind  of  God,  the  splendor  of  the  material 
universe  would  awaken  no  response  in  the 
human  heart.  It  is  because  our  minds  are 
tuned  to  the  Infinite  that  nature  enthralls 
us  with  her  enchantments.  And  were  man's 
173 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

aesthetic  sense  his  sole  endOiWiment  it  would 
be  a  sufficient  proof  of  his  kinship  to  the 
divine.  Man's  aesthetic  nature  is  a  hadge  of 
royalty. 

The  present  writer  once  stood  before  the 
^'Sistine  Madonna/'  RaphaePs  masterpiece, 
which  hangs  in  the  great  art  gallery  at  Dres- 
den. There  are  two  faces  in  that  picture 
which  look  down  upon  the  beholder,  ^Hhe 
memory  of  which  will  forever  after  sweeten 
all  the  springs  of  living."  In  the  center  of 
the  canvas  is  the  virgin,  ^'the  divinest  image 
that  ever  shaped  itself  in  palpable  hues  and 
forms  to  the  living  eye.''  Robed  in  a  blue 
mantle,  red  tunic,  flowing  veil,  and  -with  the 
Infant  in  her  arms,  the  Madonna,  stands  upon 
the  clouds  as  if  she  were  stepping  forth  from 
the  depths  of  space;.  Now,  as  I  looked  upon 
that  sujoreme  work  of  art  I  was  deeply  im- 
pressed with  its  loveliness.  Indeed,  it  is  ab- 
solutely impossible  to  elhninate  the  impres- 
sion it  makes  upon  the  mind.  And  as  I  gazed 
upon  that  sublime  creation  I  felt  that  to  some 
slight  degree  I  entered  into  the  thoughts  and 
ideals  of  the  great  master.  Somehow  a  kin- 
ship arose  between  us.  This  kinship  was 
made  possible  by  the  fact  that  I  shared  with 
the  artist  a  common  artistic  nature.  That 
174 


Man  in  the  Image  of  God. 

supreme  creation  was  the  product  of  Ra- 
phaePs  ideals,  and  I  interpreted  and  appre- 
ciated something  of  its  splendor  because  I 
possessed  to  some  extent  the  aesthetic  sense 
common  to  all.  In  like  manner  we  appre- 
ciate the  loveliness  of  the  physical  world  be- 
cause we  have  our  being  in  God,  the  source 
of  all  beauty.  Man  is  endowed  with  divine 
qualities  and  is  thus  a  partaker  of  the  divine 
glory  which  God  has  stamped  upon  material 
things.  Nature's  loveliness  awakens  re- 
sponses within  our  hearts  and  entrance  us 
because  we  bear  the  image  of  Him  who  made 
us.  We  share  with  God  a  common  aesthetic 
life. 

Christianity  affirms  that  God  has  made 
man  in  His  moral  likeness.  It  teaches  that 
as  man  shares  with  his  Creator  an  intellec- 
tual and  aesthetic  nature,  so  he  shares  with 
Him  a  moral  nature.  By  tlie  moral  nature 
we  do  not  mean  that  man  has  a  knowledge 
of  right  and  wrong,  but  that  he  possesses  a 
faculty  which  lies  at  the  basis  of  moral  dis- 
tinctions. What  man  possesses  is  not  moral 
knowledge,  but  a  moral  constitution.  The 
moral  ^^ ought"  or  the  ethical  imperative  is 
•a  constitutive  part  of  the  soul.  While  moral 
truth  increases  with  a  growing  experience, 
175 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

man  feels  from  the  beginning  tliat  he  is  under 
obligation  to  choose  the  good  and  eschew  the 
evil.  He  knows  that  conscience  is  a  reality, 
self-approving  and  self-condemning.  He 
knows  that  he  onght  always  to  do  the  right 
and  shnn  the  wrong. 

The  doctrine  of  man's  moral  likeness  to 
Grod  is  one  which  occupies  a  large  place  in 
the  Christian  religion.  Christianity  pro- 
claims as  one  of  its  chief  glories  that  man 
is  a  potential  child  of  God,  dowered  with 
moral  capacities  that  may  unfold  into  a  life 
of  spiritual  exceillence  and  beauty.  The  doc- 
trine is  implied  in  the  command  of  God  to 
His  ancient  people  through  the  mouth  of  His 
prophet,  ^^Be  ye  holy  for  I  am  holy.''  It 
is  implicit  in  His  requirement  of  all  men  to 
do  justly,  love  mercy,  and  walk  humbly  with 
Him.  Nowhere,  however,  is  the  doctrine  pro- 
claimed with  greater  emphasis  than  in  the 
teaching  of  Christ.  Indeed,  His  whole  teach- 
ing is  intelligible  only  on  the  assmnption  that 
He  regarded  men  as  endowed  with  moral 
attributes  like  unto  those  of  the  Infinite. 
*^Love  your  enemies,"  says  Jesus,  *^ bless 
them  that  hate  you,  and  pray  for  them  which 
despitef ully  use  you,  and  persecute  you ;  that 
ye  may  be  the  children  of  your  Father  which 
176 


Man  in  the  Image  of  God. 

is  in  heiaven. ' '  Now,  this  sonship  which  Christ 
urges  men  to  realize  is  made  possible,  not  by 
any  metaphysical  dependence  on  God,  bnt  by 
likeness  to  His  mo-ral  character.  Men  are 
children  of  the  Heavenly  Father,  not  by  any 
mere  metaphysical  relation,  but  by  conform- 
ing to  the  moral  ideal  of  the  divine.  This 
moral  conformity  to  the  divine  ideal  is  also 
implied  in  the  words  of  Christy  *^Be  ye  there- 
fore perfect  even  as  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven  is  perfect''  Paul,  too,  exhorts  Chris- 
tian believers  to  '^put  on  the  new  man,  which 
after  God  is  created  in  righteousness  and  true 
holiness.'' 

The  teaching  of  the  Christian  religion  con- 
cerning the  moral  nature  of  man  has  been 
confirmed  by  a  large  number  of  moralists. 
Thinkers  in  all  ages  have  seen  in  the  moral 
law  of  the  human  heart  a  transcript  of  the 
mind  of  God.  The  inner  voice  which  we  call 
conscience  has  been  recognized  as  a  voice 
from-  out  the  unseen  announcing  to  the  soul 
its  kinship  to  the  Deity.  The  ideals  of  con- 
duct which  the  moral  sense  reveals  to  us 
and  which  bind  the  will  with  absolute  au- 
thority take  us  back  to  the  Infinite,  the  eth- 
ically perfect  Being,  who  is  the  ground  of  all 
moral  truth.     All  character  and  all  moral 

12  177 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

progress  are  transcendent  and  have  their 
source  in  tlie  heart  of  the  Eternal.  Words- 
worth speaks  of  conscience  or  the  moral  law 
as 

"  God's  most  intimate  presence  in  the  soul 
And  His  most  perfect  image  in  the  world." 

Robert  Browning  says  that  conscience  is 
*^the  great  beacon-light  God  sets  in  all.'* 
Seth,  in  his  ^^ Ethical  Principles/'  writes: 
^^The  Kantian  theory  of  autonomy  does  not 
tell  the  whole  story  of  the  moral  life.  Its 
unyielding  Ought,  its  categorical  Imperative, 
issues  not  merely  from  the  depths  of  our  own 
nature,  but  from  the  heart  of  the  universe 
itself.  We  are  self-legislative;  but  we  re- 
enact  the  law  already  enacted  by  Grod;  we 
recognize,  rather  than  constitute,  the  law  of 
our  own  being.  The  moral  law  is  an  echo, 
within  our  own  souls,  of  the  voice  of  the 
Eternal."  Thus  scientific  ethics  confirms  the 
Christian  faith  in  its  doctrine  that  the  moral 
nature  of  man  is  derived  from  his  Creator. 

Modern  thought  in  its  estimate  of  man  is 
fa,st  approaching  the  position  held  by  the 
Christian  revelation.  The  theory  of  a  gener- 
ation ago,  that  man  instead  of  being  a  child 
of  the  Most  High  is  but  a  higher  mammal 
with  the  same  history  and  i>rospects  as  the 
178 


Man  in  the  Image  of  God. 

brute,  has  been  abandoiied.  Tlie  view  that 
human  nature  is  but  a  passing  phase  of  an 
eternal  substance  and  has  no  more  value  for 
the  universe  at  large  than  the  ant  o^r  the  fly 
of  a  suromer's  day  has  been  given  up.  Sci- 
ence as  well  as  Christian  thought  has  in- 
vested man  with  dignity,  with  kingship,  with 
divinity.  It  has  come  to  regard  him  as  the 
goal  to  which  the  solar  system  has  been  striv- 
ing ever  since  it  floated  rs  a  cloud-bank  in 
illimitable  space.  From  the  dawn  of  life  na- 
ture has  travailed  in  pain  to  give  birth  to 
this  self-conscious,  personal,  moral  being. 
To  be  sure,  man  on  the  physical  side  is  corre- 
lated with  the  animal  kingdom  a,s  he  is  with 
the  entire  physical  world.  The  entire  struc^ 
ture  of  the  human  body,  its  functions,  its 
modes  of  nourishment,  its  laws  of  reproduc- 
tion unmistakably  proclaim  man's  kinship  to 
the  brute  creation.  But  while  his  physical  life 
and  history  announce  his  likeness  to  the  lower 
order,  to  which  he  is  linked  by  indissoluble 
ties,  his  moral  and  spiritual  powers  reveal 
his  kinship  to  the  Unseen.  Like  the  blue- 
bird with  the  brown  of  the  earth  on  its  breast 
and  the  azure  of  the  sln^  on  its  back,  man 
may  be  said  to  be  a  representative  of  two 
worlds.  "While  he  is  the  highest  of  animals, 
179 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

lie  is  at  tlie  same  time  the  commencement 
of  a  new  creation.  And  man  is  conscious 
tliat  two  worlds  meet  and  unite  in  him. 
He  knows  that  while  his  physical  existence 
constitutes  hun  a  citizen  of  the  temporal,  his 
self -consciousness,  power  of  self -direction, 
sense  of  responsibility,  and  moral  nature 
constitute  him  a  citizen  of  eternity.  "While 
his  entire  history— birth,  hunger,  famine, 
disease,  death— reminds  him  that  he  belongs 
to  the  animal  realm,  the  stirrings  of  his 
deeper  being,  his  discontent  with  earthly  pur- 
suits, his  cravings  for  the  eternal,  his  long- 
ings for  immortality,  the  tides  of  hope  and 
love  which  like  a  wave  from  the  eternal  shore 
break:  in  upon  his  soul,  are  a  constant  re^ 
minder  that  he  is  a  child  of  the  Infinite. 

No  other  religious  faith  has  conceived  so 
nobly  of  man  as  has  Christianity.  No  extra- 
Christian  religion  has  placed  such  high  value 
upon  the  soul  as  has  the  Christian  religion. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  the  speculative  sys- 
tems of  the  ancient  world.  No  philosopher 
or  sage  has  entertained  such  a  lofty  concep- 
tion of  the  human  soul  as  has  the  gospel  of 
Christ.  Jesus  is  the  sole  Teacher  who  has 
ascribed  to  the  human  personality  its  real 
worth,  Emerson  says  that  Christ  ^*saw  with 
180 


Man  in  the  Image  of  God. 

open  eye  the  mystery  of  the  soul.  Drawn  by 
its  severe  harmony,  ravished  with  its  beauty, 
He  lived  in  it  and  had  His  being  there. 
Alone  in  all  history  He  estimated  the  great- 
ness of  man." 

Previous  to  the  advent  of  Christianity 
the  nations  of  the  earth  entertained  poor 
opinions  of  one  another.  To  tlie  Jew,  every 
man  outside  the  race  of  Abraham^  whether  a 
cultured  Greek,  a  proud  Roman,  or  a  swarthy 
son  of  Africa,  was  a  dog.  In  the  eyes  of 
the  Greeks  all  other  nations  were  barbarians, 
while  to  the  imperial  Roman  the  proud  claim, 
*^I  am  a  Roman  citizen,''  was  the  sole  badge 
of  merit.  Plato  even  congratulated  the 
Athenians  for  having  exhibited  a  pure  and 
heartfelt  hatred  towards  the  Persians.  More- 
over, the  doctrine  was  current  that  all  rule 
and  authority  should  reside  in  the  well-born 
and  the  cultured  classes.  Affairs  of  the  State 
were  to  be  entrusted,  not  to  tlie  masses,  but 
to  the  patrician  and  the  man  of  genius.  The 
social  distinctions  that  existed  among  man- 
kind were  not  an  accident  that  might  be  re- 
moved by  the  dissemination  of  education  and 
culture,  but  had  its  roots  in  the  constitution 
of  things.  Aristotle  taught  that  some  men 
were  born  to  be  savages,  while  others  were 
181 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

^'destined  by  nature  to  be  slaves.'*  Indeed, 
he  saw  in  slavery  an  institution  pregnant  with 
benefaction  to  the  race  and  worthy  to  be  per- 
petuated to  all  time.  Plato's  conception  of 
man,  like  that  of  his  great  disciple,  was  also 
fundamentally  defective.  In  his  ideal  com- 
monwealth the  interests  of  the  individual 
were  sacrificed  to  the  welfare  of  the  common 
good,  while  his  rights  were  merged  in  and 
absorbed  by  the  State.  *  ^  Exhibitions  of 
IDhysical  degeneracy  or  weakness  should  not 
be  tolerated  in  the  Platonic  State ;  deformed 
and  sickly  infants  should  be  abandoned^  and 
food  and  shelter  should  be  denied  the  sick." 
Thus  Plato,  notwithstanding  his  profound  in- 
sight into  human  life  and  his  devotion  to 
truth,  had  no  adequate  idea  of  the  worth  of 
man.  The  claim  of  the  Christian  religion, 
that  man  is  a  potential  child  of  God  and 
may  be  fitted  for  blest  fellowship  with  Him, 
was  a  notion  wholly  foreign  to  the  philoso- 
pher of  the  Academy.  That  all  men  are  the 
sons  of  God,  and  that  none  are  to  be  neg- 
lected or  degraded,  wa,s  a  thought  as  far  above 
the  Greek  thinker  as  the  heavens  are;  above 
the  earth.  It  was  reserved  for  Christianity 
to  shed  a  new  light  upon  human  nature  and 
to  place  a  right  estimate  on  the  soul.  It 
182 


Mait  in  the  Image  of  God. 

is  in  the  New  Testament,  as  Denney  observes, 
that  the  soul  which  in  contemporar}"  litera- 
ture is  bound  in  shallows  and  in  miseries, 
is  raised  as  on  a  great  tidal  wave  of  spir- 
itual blessing. 


183 


"  Be  ye  therefore  perfect,  even  as  your  Father  which 
is  in  heaven  is  perfect." — Matthew  5:48. 

"The  finest  fruit  earth  holds  up  to  its  Maker  is  a  fin- 
ished man." — Humboldt. 

*'  The  end  of  human  existence  is  perfection,  which 
can  be  obtained  only  by  entering  into  living  communion 
with  the  living  God." — William  Ellery  Channing. 

"Beloved,  now  are  we  the  sons  of  God,  and  it  doth 
not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be  ;  but  we  know  that  when 
he  shall  appear  we  shall  be  like  him ;  for  we  shall  see 
him  as  he  is. — 1  John  3:2. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ON  MOEAL  PERFECTION. 

Our  survey  of  man  will  not  be  complete  until 
we  discover  tlie  end  for  which  he  has  been 
made.  For  what  purpose  has  man  been  sent 
into  the  world  I  "What  is  the  summum  honum, 
the  supreme  good  of  life?  What  is  the  sig- 
nificance of  human  existence?  In  the  ques- 
tion of  the  Shorter  Catechism,  ^^What  is 
man's  chief  end?"  What  should  he  strive 
for  and  prize  above  all  else?  ^^How  shall 
we  determine  the  end  of  the  human  being? 
Why  was  he  made— this  mysterious  creature 
—driven  by  so  many  impulses,  gifted  with 
such  diverse  powers,  and  free  to  turn  them 
in  such  countless  directions?''  This  ques- 
tion, asked  by  sages  in  all  ages,  is  the  first 
and  final  question  of  Christian  as  well  as  of 
moral  philosophy. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  doctrine 

of  Judaism  and  Christianity  concerning  the 

origin  of  man  is  essentially  the  same.    Both 

the  Old  and  New  Testaments  declare  that 

187 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

man  came  from  God  and  is  a  partaker  of 
the  divine  nature.  In  his  intellectnal  and 
moral  powers  he  is  akin  to  his  Creator.  The 
teaching  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  however, 
concerning  the  end  of  life  or  the  goal  of 
existence  falls  far  short  of  that  of  the  Grospel. 
According  to  Jewish  thought,  the  social  wel- 
fare of  the  nation  rather  than  the  personal 
good  of  the  individual  was  the  end  of  all  en- 
deavor. The  blessings  bestowed  upon  Israel 
were  conceived  of  as  national  blessings.  The 
promise  made  by  Grod  to  Abraham  was  not 
a  promise  of  well-being  to  himself,  but  one 
which  through  his  seed  was  to  be  to  all 
peoples;  **In  thee  shall  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth  be  blessed. '^  The  covenant  which 
Jehovah  made  with  the  nation  was  not  with 
single  persons,  but  with  the  entire  Hebrew 
race,  and  when  the  covenant  was  broken  the 
whole  people  were  punished.  Israel  and  not 
the  individual  Jew  were  the  special  object  of 
the  divine  care.  This  conception  of  religion 
colored  their  entire  spiritual  existence  and 
even  lay  at  the  root  of  their  Messianic  ex- 
pectations. The  individual  was  merged  in 
the  social  organism  and  his  hope  was  identi- 
fied with  that  of  the  community.  He  was 
sunk  in  the  nation  and  his  personal  interest 
188 


On  Moral  Perfection. 

was  linked  with  the  interest  of  collective 
Israel.  Stalker,  in  ^'The  Ethic  of  Jesus,'' 
says:  ^^The  conception  of  religion  as  a  cor- 
porate impulse  is  specially  the  view  of  the 
Old  Testament,  in  which  both  the  reproofs 
and  the  promises  of  the  prophets  are,  as  a 
rule,  addressed  not  to  the  individual  but  to 
the  nation  at  large;  and  only  slowly  and 
dimly,  as  the  Book  is  drawing  to  its  close, 
does  the  idea  emerge  that  the  individual  is 
capable  of  a  personal  relation  to  God."^^ 

On  the  other  hand,  the  New  Testament  em- 
phasizes the  individual  good  rather  than  the 
national  or  social  well-being.  Jesus  Christ 
^'stripped  religion  of  its  national  and  racial 
character''  and  made  it  individual.  The  na- 
tion can  be  redeemed  only  as  the  lives  of 
individuals  are  purified  and  ennobled.  It  is 
only  as  the  individual  soul  becomes  a  par- 
taker of  the  divine  character  that  blessing 
and  peace  can  com.e  to  all.  The  ideal  of 
Christianity  is  that  the  fullness  of  the  gospel 
of  Christ  may  be  the  possession  of  every 
heart.  The  Beatitudes  are  pronounced,  not 
upon  the  communit}^,  but  upon  single  persons. 
Christ  prays,  not  for  the  world,  but  for  the 
disciples  whom  His  Father  has  given  Him. 
**In  the  great  conception  of  the  Kingdom  of 
189 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

God  the  social  aspect  of  religion  is  acknowl- 
edged ;  but  tlie  originality  of  Christ  consisted 
not  in  emphasizing  this,  but  in  seizing  on  the 
emergent  notion  of  the  dignity  and  value  of 
the  individual  soul  and  elevating  it  to  the 
forefront. ' ' 

Moreover,  the  ideal  of  Hebrew  thought 
was  not  spiritual,  but  material  good.  The 
vision  that  floated  before  the  eyes  of  the  na- 
tion as  the  embodiment  of  all  blessedness  wa,s 
not  moral  attainments,  but  flocks  and  herds, 
abundant  crops,  and  an  overflowing  vintage. 
The  object  that  lured  them  on  in  their  jour- 
neyings  from  Eg}'pt  and  that  saved  them 
from  utter  despair  in  the  wilderness  was  the 
report  of  a  land  that  flowed  with  milk  and 
honey.  Virtue  was  rewarded  with  material 
prosperity;  vice  was  attended  with  social 
disaster.  The  word  of  the  Lord  as  pro- 
claimed by  His  prophet  was,  **If  ye  be  will- 
ing and  obedient,  ye  shall  eat  the  good  of 
the  land ;  but  if  ye  refuse  and  rebel,  ye  shall 
be  devoured  with  the  sword.''  Virtue  as 
being  its  own  exceeding  great  reward, 
whether  accompanied  by  pain  or  gain,  was 
an  idea  foreign  to  the  life  of  the  people. 
Tangible  or  material  good  was  the  goal  of 
their  hopes  and  expectations. 
190 


On  Moral  Perfection. 

The  Christian  conception  of  the  ultimate 
aim  of  life,  on  the  other  hand,  shifts  the 
emphasis  from  material  well-being  to  spir- 
itual good.  The  Christian  religion  seeks  to 
transform  man  until  he  reflects  the  character 
and  will  of  God.  While  it  teaches  that  ma- 
terial happiness  is  associated  with  virtue,  it 
nevertheless  sets  moral  perfection  before  its 
followers  as  the  end  of  all  endeavor.  Chris- 
tianity proclaims  that  the  summum  honum  or 
the  chief  end  of  action  is  the  moral  perfecti- 
bility of  mankind.  Man's  highest  good  or 
the  goal  of  his  being  is  to  be  found  in  his 
spiritual  development  or  in  his  participation 
in  the  divine  nature.  The  soul  reaches  its 
highest  estate,  not  in  any  mere  outward  pos- 
session, but  in  the  free  and  harmonious  un- 
folding of  its  intellectual  and  moral  powers. 
The  aim  of  Christianity  is  to  cleanse  away 
from  the  soul  the  sin  that  defiles  it  and  fill 
it  with  a  new  energy  and  life.  *^ Intellectual, 
moral,  spiritual  perfection— or,  in  other 
words,  that  life  and  energy  of  reason,  of 
conscience,  and  of  will,  which  brings  our 
whole  spiritual  nature  into  harmony  with  it- 
self, with  our  fellow-beings,  and  with  God— 
this  alone  deserves  the  name  of  good.  So 
teaches  Christianity.  For  this  religion  has 
191 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

for  its  great  end  to  redeem  tlie  soul  from 
every  disease,  excess,  infirmity,  and  sin,  to 
re-establish  order  among  its  complex  powers, 
to  unfold  within  it  the  principle  of  duty  as 
its  guiding  law,  and  to  develop  it  in  the 
beauty  of  perfect  rectitude  and  universal 
love/'^' 

Christ  places  the  ideal  of  moral  perfec- 
tion before  the  vision  of  men  as  the  end  for 
which  they  should  strive.  He  lays  increas- 
ing emphasis  on  the  spiritual  valueis  of  lifcw 
The  true  and  abiding  asset  of  the  soul  is 
moral  character.  Such  values  as  birth,  rank, 
wealth,  which  society  had  placed  upon  man- 
kind, are  fictitious  and  fail  to  touch  man's 
higher  worth.  ^^  Jesus  taught  that  the  be- 
ginnings of  the  Kingdom  of  heaven  lie  in 
personal  character,  and  its  good  is  to  be 
realized  through  the  new  life  and  spiritual 
victory  of  the  individual  man.''  He  came 
to  redeem  mankind  from  sin  and  to  make 
of  them  a  glorious  Church,  not  having  spot, 
or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing.  His  mission 
was  to  recover  humanity  from,  moral  guilt 
to  a  state  of  holiness  and  to  lift  the  race  to 
a  plane  of  high  spiritual  attainment.  He 
came  to  fill  the  hearts  of  men  with  the  life 
of  Grod  so  that  they  may  rise  to  heights  of 
192 


On  Moral  Perfection. 

spiritual  power  yet  unattained  by  the  world. 
^^  Newness  of  life  is  the  clarion  note  of  the 
Son  of  God.''  To  create  us  anew  after  the 
image  of  God  and  to  make  us  partakers  of 
the  divine  nature  was  Christ's  sole  aim. 

The  doctrine  of  the  i^erfectihility  of  man 
is  nowhere  presented  by  Christ  in  a,  more 
striking  manner  than  in  His  teaching  con- 
cerning the  Kingdom  of  God.  The  term 
' '  Kingdom  of  God, ' '  though  often  on  the  lips 
of  Jesus,  was  no  new  phrase.  It  was  a  term 
that  was  current  among  the  Jews  when  Christ 
appeared  among  them.  Indeed,  the  phrase 
had  been  used  for  long  centuries  by  the  He- 
brew race  to  sum  up  the  relation  that  God 
sustained  to  tliemi.  The  idea  had  penetrated 
Jewish  thought  and  its  roots  lay  far  back 
in  the  life  and  history  of  the  nation.  The 
history  of  the  Jewish  people  was  founded 
on  the  notion  of  a  theocracy,  i,  e,,  a  govern- 
ment in  which  God  is  the  King.  This  con- 
ception was  basal  in  their  doctrine  and  polity. 
It  filled  their  thinking,  permeated  their  lit- 
erature, and  determined  the  form  of  their 
social  and  political  institutions.  So  large  a 
place  did  it  fill  in  the  thought  of  the  nation 
that  the  great  prophets  conceived  of  a  king- 
dom which  should  embrace  all  nations  and 

13  193 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

whose  glory  should  fill  the  whole  earth.  They 
looked  forward  to  a  world-einpire  in  which 
truth,  righteousness,  and  justice  should  pre- 
vail. Divine  in  its  origin  and  spiritual  in 
its  laws,  it  was  destined  to  grow  until  it  be- 
came as  wide  as  the  world.  Nations  should 
come  to  its  light  and  kings  to  the  brightness 
of  its  rising.  To  be  sure,  the  actual  history 
of  the  people  shows  that  this  ideal  of  the 
prophet  was  far  beyond  their  attaimnent; 
indeed,  it  gradually  faded  away  until  it  was 
all  but  lost.  The  ideal  of  a  divine  kingdom 
wherein  dwelleth  righteousness,  which  had 
fired  the  hearts  of  the  prophets  of  Grod, 
gave  way  to  one  of  material  prosperity, 
political  power,  and  earthly  splendor.  Christ, 
however,  early  in  His  ministry  adopted  the 
idea  and  made  it  the  vehicle  of  a  deeper  spir- 
itual truth  than  had  ever  been  associated 
with  it  in  the  Jewish  consciousness.  In  His 
teaching  it  was  purified  of  all  the  false  no- 
tions with  which  it  was  invested  and  became 
the  grandest  conception  that  ever  entered  the 
mind  of  men. 

But  what  is  the  Kingdom  of  God?    How 

is  it  to  be  defined!     What  is  its  essential 

nature!    The  Kingdom  of  God  as  conceived 

of  by  Christ  is  in  its  origin,  character,  and 

194 


On  Moeal  Perfection. 

purpose  divine.  It  consists,  not  in  any  out- 
ward good,  but  in  the  inward  life  of  the 
Spirit,  in  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in 
the  Holy  Grhost.  It  is  the  Kingdom  whose 
means  are  justice  and  truth,  and  whose  ends 
are  perfection  and  peace.  It  is  pre-eminently 
a  spiritual  system,  a  moral  order,  a  divine 
rule,  in  which  men  fulfill  all  filial  relations 
to  God  and  all  brotherly  relations  to  one 
another.  It  is  the  power  of  God  in  man  re- 
newing his  soul  and  shaping  it  after  the  divine 
pattern.  It  is  the  entrance  of  a  potency  and 
living  force  into  the  world  transforming  it  in 
all  its  activities.  The  Kingdom  of  God  is 
the  highest  state  of  moral  and  spiritual  de- 
velopment of  which  the  human  race  is  capa- 
ble. It  is  the  reign  of  God  on  earth,  the  uni- 
versal reception  and  dominion  of  the  divine 
purpose  among  men.  It  is  a  new  common- 
wealth composed  of  redeemed  souls  who  do 
God's  will  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven. 
It  is  *^a  universal  spiritual  reign,  the  reign 
of  rectitude,  purity,  wisdom,  truth,  love,  and 
peace,  the  reign  of  God  in  the  understanding, 
conscience,  heart,  and  will  of  men." 

And  this  ideal  is  presented  by  Christ,  not 
to  a  few  select  spirits,  but  to  all  men.    Others 
had  taught  that  high  moral  attainment  was 
195 


Fundamentals  of  the  Chkistian  Eeligion. 

for  the  sage  and  the  philosopher,  but  Jesus 
proclaims  that  it  is  witliin  the  reach  of  every 
man.  The  infinite  good -of  the  gospel  is  for 
all  alike.  The  blessings  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God  are  not  conditioned  by  rank,  culture,  or 
social  distinction,  but  are  open  to  all.  Christ 
teaches  that  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  Infinite 
to  bring  all  mankind,  irrespective  of  race  and 
creed,  to  a  state  of  spiritual  elevation  far 
beyond  their  fondest  hope  and  fairest  dreams. 
And  the  sole  qualification  for  admission  into 
this  new  society  is  the  state  of  the  inner 
spirit,  the  disposition  of  the  heart.  ^^The 
morality  of  Plato  was  one  not  for  the  multi- 
tude, but  for  the  few  select  souls.  But  Chris- 
tianity is  a,  religion  for  all;  its  fundamental 
principle  is  one  capable  of  influeaacing  every 
human  heart.;  it  demands  no  special  quali- 
fications, it  offers  no  ecxclusive  privileges ;  the 
rich  and  the  poor,  the  wise  and  the  ignorant, 
are  equally  welcome  within  its  pale  if  they 
submit  themselves  to  its  conditions.''  The 
African  with  black  skin  and  fiery  passion 
and  the  noble  Livingstone  may  be  mem- 
bers of  the  same  divine  commonwealth.  The 
Esquimau,  sluggish  of  thought  and  dull  of 
moral  apprehen,sion,  and  the  heroic  mission- 
ary who  instructs  him  in  things  divine  may 
196 


On  Moeal  Peefection. 

be  loyal  subjects  of  the  same  spiritual  king- 
dom. The  door  of  the  Kingdom  of  heaven 
lies  open  to  the  meanest  and  the  poorest  sons 
of  earth. 

The  perfectibility  of  man  is  an  attainment 
made  possible  by  his  moral  and  spiritual 
nature.  The  power  of  man  to  reflect  the 
divine  character  is  a  necessary  implication 
of  his  intellectual  and  moral  constitution. 
Since  man  is  a  child  of  the  Most  High  he 
may  attain  to  a  life  of  moral  beauty.  Since 
he  bears  the  image  of  Grod  he  may  become 
perfect  in  life  and  character  as  God  is  per- 
fect. Goodness,  purity,  love,  and  truth  may 
be  the  dominant  elements  of  his  being.  '  ^  Man 
is  here,  erect  and  beauteous,  with  mind,  heart, 
conscience,  will,  his  every  faculty  fitted  for 
everlastiQg  progress  and  ceaseless,  blest  fel- 
lowship with  God."  The  biologist  tells  us 
that  the  leaf  of  the  plant  is  covered  with 
tiny  mouths,  similar  in  form  to  human  lips, 
which  seizes  the  carbonic  acid  gas  in  the  air 
and  transmutes  it  into  itself.  So  man,  by 
means  of  his  spiritual  powers,  may  lay  hold  on 
the  life  of  the  Infinite  and  transmute  it,  glo^ 
rious  and  beautiful,  into  his  own  life.  As  the 
seed  which  is  put  into  the  earth  germinates' 
and  grows  until  it  reaches  its  richest  expres- 
197 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

sion  in  the  full-grown  plant  with  its  richness 
of  foliage  and  blossom,  so  the  human  heart 
under  influences  divine  may  produce  a  noble 
manhood  with  its  fullness  of  strength  and 
beauty.  To  be  sure,  the  seed  which  is  hid 
in  the  soil  in  springtime  is  vastly  different 
from  the  flower  with  its  rich  coloring  and 
fragrance  which  crowns  the  plant  in  summer. 
But  within  the  seed  lies  a  latent  germ  which, 
when  aided  by  the  laws  and  conditions  of 
vegetative  life,  by  soil,  air,  and  sunshine, 
rises  into  beauteous  blossom  and  flower. 
Within  the  soul  of  maji  are  potencies  which 
when  nurtured  by  the  sunshine  of  the  divine 
love  realize  themselves  in  lofty  ideas,  virtu- 
ous conduct,  and  holy  endeavor.  Within  man 
are  capacities  and  powers  which  when  ap- 
pealed to  by  the  gracious  influences  of  heaven 
unfold  themselves  in  filial  experience,  lov- 
ing service,  and  distinct  sonship  to  God.  In 
the  soul  may  shine  undimmed  all  the  moral 
excellencies  of  the  divine.  ^^From  God  we 
came  forth,  with  all  the  beginnings  of  life  in 
us,  the  capacities  for  thought,  the  possibil- 
ities of  action,  the  channels  through  which 
life  must  be  set  in  flow;  to  God  we  are  to 
come  back,  that  He  may  Himself  complete 
that  which  He  ha,s  begun,  and  that  He  may 
198 


On  Moral  Peefection. 

fill  up  with  His  own  thouglit  the  capacities 
for  thought  which  He  has  created,  and  that 
He  may  Himself  develop  into  activities  of 
His  own  the  possibilities  of  action  which  He 
has  set  within,  and  that  He  may  set  His  own 
life  coursing  through  all  the  life-channels  He 
has  formed/'"'^ 

As  man's  moral  nature  is  his  highest  en- 
dowment, so  the  perfectibility  of  the  soul  is 
the  highest  good  to  which  he  can  attain.  Man 
can  receive  nothing  better  than  the  unfolding 
of  his  spiritual  life.  The  Infinite  Himself 
can  perform  no  greater  task  than  to  perfect 
the  human  soul.  He  can  achieve  nothing 
nobler  than  to  eradicate  sin  from  the  heart 
and  fill  it  with  a  life  and  power  divine.  **I 
affirm  that  there  is,  and  can  be,  no^  greater 
work  on  earth  than  to  purify  the  soul  from 
evil  and  to  kindle  in  it  new  light,  life,  energy, 
and  love."  And  if  at  the  dawn  of  creation 
the  morning  stars  sang  together  as  they  be^ 
held  the  wondrous  works  of  God,  the  spir- 
itual transformation  of  mankind  might  well 
call  forth  an  anthem  of  praise  from  all  things 
that  He  has  made. 

Thi-s  conception  of  the  highest  good  as 
set  forth  by  Christianity  is  the  sublimest  that 
has  ever  entered  the  thought  of  the  human 
199 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

race.  No  religious  faith  or  philosophic  sys- 
tem has  conceived  so  nobly  of  the  end  of  man- 
kind as  has  the  Christian  religion.  No 
teacher,  ancient  or  modem,  has  entertained 
such  a  worthy  idea  of  tlie  goal  of  human 
endeavor  as  has  Christ.  No  sage  or  philoso- 
pher has  ever  forged  such  an  exalted  ideal 
of  life  as  is  presented  by  Jesus.  The  dreams 
entertained  of  the  final  goal  of  humanity  by 
the  prophets  and  poets  of  all  ages  are  sur- 
passed by  the  hope  which  Christianity  sets 
before  us.  *^One  may  look  in  vain  in  all 
other  ethics,  ancient  or  modern,  for  a  con- 
ception of  the  supreme  good  so  vital,  so  hu- 
man, so  homelike  as  this."  The  highest  good 
that  Buddhism  offers  to  mankind  is  the  ex- 
tinction of  being;  the  end  of  life  is  the  Nir- 
vana wherein  personality  ceases  and  con- 
sciousness is  extinguished.  Confucianism 
holds  out  no  hope  to  the  individual  since  all 
initiation  and  originality  are  crushed  out 
from  his  life  by  the  traditions  and  customs 
of  the  past.  The  conception  of  the  chief  end 
of  man  as  held  by  Greek  thought  was  as  in- 
adequate as  that  of  the  extra-Christian  ren 
ligions.  Aristotle  says:  ** Since  all  knowl- 
edge and  all  purpose  aim  at  some  good,  what 
is  the  highest  of  all  realizable  goods?  As 
200 


OiT  MoKAL  Perfection. 

to  its  name,  I  suppose^  nearly  all  men  are 
agreed,  for  the  masses  and  the  men  of  enl- 
tnre  alilve  declare  that  it  is  happiness.''  The 
doctrine  of  the  highest  good  as  enunciated  by 
Greek  philosophy  has  been  adopted  in  sub- 
stance by  a  large  number  of  ethicists  in  mod- 
ern times.  The  hedonistic  ethics  of  the  Greek 
world  is  reflected  in  the  writings  of  such  men 
as  Locke,  Bentham,  Spencer,  and  Mill. 
Spencer,  who  may  be  taken  as  a  representa- 
tive of  this  class,  writes,  ^*No  school  can 
avoid  taking  for  the  ultimate  moral  aim  a 
desirable  state  of  feeling,  called  by  whatever 
name— gratification,  enjoyment,  happiness.'' 
The  Christian  ideal  of  the  supreme  good, 
however,  is  no  elimination  of  being  or  loss 
of  conscious  life,  no  hopeless  clinging  to  the 
past^  no  mere  attainment  of  enjoyment, 
whether  sensuous  or  mental,  but  union  with 
God  in  truth,  righteousness,  and  love.  It 
is  the  freedom  of  the  soul  from  passion  which 
devours,  from  lust  which  destroys,  and  from 
moral  weakness  which  ends  in  debility  and 
death.  It  is  the  infilling  of  the  heart  with 
the  life  of  God.  It  is  the  mind  of  Glirist 
incarnated  in  man,  cleansing  the  thought, 
purifying  the  emotion,  and  reproducing  it- 
self in  daily  action.  It  19  the  individual  soul 
201 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

living  at  its  highest  and  best  in  all  that  en- 
nobles thought,  strengthens  the  will,  and  de- 
velops character.  And  while  the  Christian 
ideal  transcends  the  fairest  pictures  of  hu- 
man felicity  drawn  by  prophet  or  sage,  it 
finds  a  ready  response  in  the  human  heart. 
Men  feel  that  the  abundant  life  is  no  im- 
possible dream  or  unattainable  blessedness, 
but  that  it  may  become  a  glorious  posses- 
sion. **As  every  drop  of  sap  in  the  tree 
flows  toward  foliage  and  fruit"  and  ^* every 
drop  of  blood  in  the  bird  beats  toward  flight 
and  song, ' '  so  every  activity  of  man  may  tend 
toward  moral  beauty  and  a  perfect  manhood. 
All  the  sublime  potencies  latent  in  the  indi- 
vidual may  be  lifted  into  gracious  and  glori- 
ous realization  until  he  embodies  in  himself 
all  heavenly  virtues  and  reproduces  the  life 
and  will  of  Grod. 

The  claim  of  Christianity  that  the  intel- 
lectual and  moral  development  of  the  race 
is  the  final  end  of  all  things  has  received 
marvelous  confirmation  from  science.  ^^The 
naturally  revealed  end''  toward  which  evo- 
lution works  is  the  ideal  of  Christian  thought. 
Science  bears  unmistakable  testimony  to  the 
meaning  and  purpose  of  God  in  the  creation 
of  man.  Like  the  Christian  religion,  it  affirms 
202 


On  Moeal  Pekfection. 

that  the  end  of  the  physical  realm  is  a  moral 
one.  The  theory  once  prevalent  in  certain 
quarters  that  man  is  the  product  of  material 
forces  and  has  no  more  value  for  the  uni- 
verse than  the  mote  in  the  sunbeam,  has  re- 
ceded before  the  larger  view  that  he  is  the 
glorious  consummation  of  nature's  work,  and 
that  his  perfection  is  the  end  toward  which 
she  has  been  striving  from  the  beginning. 
From  fire-mist  and  glowing  globe  and  across 
vast  stretches  of  time  nature  has  looked  to 
the  production  and  perfection  of  humanity  as 
the  crown  and  goal  of  her  labor.  At  the 
summit  of  nature's  process  of  development- 
through  inorganic  matter,  vegetable  life,  ani- 
mal life— stands  a  spirit,  intelligent,  moral, 
and  free,  who  is  capable  of  infinite  progress. 
Having  sketched  the  history  of  the  origin 
of  man,  John  Fiske  says:  ^^Our  historical 
survey  of  the  genesis  of  humanity  seems  to 
show  very  forcibly  that  a  society  of  human 
souls  living  in  conformity  to  a  perfect  moral 
law  is  the  end  toward  which,  ever  since  the 
time  when  our  solar  system  was  a  patch  of 
nebulous  vapor,  the  cosmic  process  has  been 
aiming."  Professor  Drummond  affirms  that 
were  not  the  goal  of  humanity  moral  like- 
ness to  God,  **  evolution  would  have  no  future. 

2oa 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

no  meaning,  no  fulfillment."  '^'Tliis,"  lie 
says,  ^  ^  is  the  one  far-off  divine  event  to  which 
the  whole  creation  moves  and  for  whose  re- 
alization all  nature  waits,  as  it  were,  with 
anxious  heart  and  gaze  of  hope."  Hence- 
forth the  task  of  nature  will  not  be  to  give 
birth  to  any  higher  creature,  but  to  perfect 
this  masterpiece  which  she  has  produced. 

**  All  tended  to  mankind, 
And,  man  produced,  all  has  its  end  thus  far; 
But  in  completed  man  begins  anew 
A  tendency  to  God.     Prognostics  told 
Man's  near  approach  ;  so  in  man's  self  arise 
August  anticipations,  symbols,  types 
Of  a  dim  splendor  ever  or  before 
In  that  eternal  circle  life  pursues." 

And  this  work  will  continue  until  the  face 
of  the  earth  is  renewed  and  manl^ind  de- 
livered from  the  curse  of  sin.  The  moral 
culture  of  the  race  thus  far  attained  is  but 
a  prophecy  of  what  will  be  when  the  gospel 
of  Christ,  working  on  slowly  through  the 
ages,  shall  have  accomplished  its  purpose 
upon  the  human  soul.  The  moral  transf  ormar 
tion  of  men  will  go  on  until  the  race  comes 
into  full  accord  with  the  life  and  plan  of  the 
Infinite,  Man  is  destined  not  merely  to  live 
forever,  but  to  grow,  to  expand,  to  unfold 
his  capacities  until  he  reproduces  the  divine 
204 


On  Mokal  Perfection. 

life  and  becomes  all  it  is  possible  for  a  re- 
deemed sou  of  God  to  be.  Through  the  com- 
ing ages  he  will  continue  to  climb  until 
finally  he  reaches  the  smiunit  of  manhood 
and  is  crowned  with  glory.  This  world,  of 
ours  has  before  it  a  future  that  is  large  with' 
blessing  to  the  human  race.  The  Golden  Age 
has  yet  to  come.  The  ideal  and  perfect  state 
of  which  philosophers  and  poets  have  so 
fondly  dreamed  will  yet  appear.  The  time 
will  come  when  the  world,  which  has  revolted 
from  the  authority  of  God  and  which  has  been 
so^  long  marred  by  sin,  will  be  redeemed  and 
made  beauteous  as  the  light  of  heaven.  The 
earth,  whose  history  has  been  stained  through 
with  guilt,  will  by  divine  love  be  cleansed  and 
made  a  glorious  dwelling-place  for  the  sons 
of  God.  The  day  will  dawn  when  hmnanity 
will  be  purged  of  its  dross  by  the  fires  of 
discipline  and  come  forth  refined  as  pure 
gold.  ^'Led  by  its  Father's  hand  it  will  yet 
enter  and  take  possession  of  a  kingdom  to 
the  hither  frontier  of  which  it  has  as  yet 
scarcely  come."  The  vision  of  the  man  of 
lonely  Patmos,  hemmed  in  by  the  sea  as  by  a 
prison  wall,  will  e^^entually  be  fulfilled:  *^  And 
I,  John,  saw  the  holy  city,  New  Jerusalem, 
coming  down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  pre- 
205 


Fundamentals  of  the  Chkistian  Eeligion. 

pared  as  a  bride  adorned  for  ker  Kusband. 
And  I  heard  a  great  voice  out  of  heaven 
saying",  Behold,  the  tabernacle  of  God  is  with 
men,  and  He  will  dwell  with  them,  and  they 
shall  be  His  people^  and  Grod  Himself  shall 
be  with  them,  and  be  their  God."  And  this 
city  is  no  future  world  far  away  in  the  sky, 
but  a  community  of  righteousness  established 
upon  the  earth.  It  is  no  celestial  home  re^ 
served  for  the  spirits  of  the  blessed,  but  a 
human  community  where  men  will  serve  God 
and  toil  with  Him  in  the  building  of  His 
kingdom.  It  is  a  city  which  descending  out 
of  heaven  and  resplendent  with  the  light  and 
life  of  God,  shall  renew  this  old  earth  and 
make  it  beauteous  and  divinei 

The  means  by  which  this  sublime  experi- 
ence must  bei  atitained  is  the  life  and  per- 
sonality of  Jesus  Christ,  Jesus,  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  mankind,  revealed  to 
the  world  the  glorious  possibility  of  humanity 
when  it  is  in  full  accord  with  the  will  of  God. 
We  have  ia  Christ  *  ^  an  Exemplar  vouchsafed, 
in  an  early  age  of  the  world,  of  what  man 
may  and  should  become,  in  the  course  of  ages, 
in  his  progress  towards  the  realization  of  his 
destiny."  Jesus,  in  whom  God  has  incar- 
nated Himself  and  disclosed  His  nature  in 
206 


On  Mokal  Perfection. 

terms  of  Imman  consciousness,  ^*  becomes  the 
type  of  the  highest  development  of  humanity 
and  the  goal  toward  which  the  rest  of  us  must 
strive."  By  His  unselfish  service  and  holy 
love  culminating  in  Calvary  He  revealed  to 
men  the  moral  and  spiritual  heights  to  which 
they  might  attain.  He  is  the  head  of  a  new 
creation,  the  forerunner  of  a  race  which,  shall 
conform  to  the  divine.  What  Christ  was  in  all 
the  high  reaches  of  His  spiritual  experience, 
that  man  may  be.  What  He  was  in  His  un- 
blemished character,  matchless  love,  and  de- 
votion to  truth,  that  every  individtial  may  be^ 
come.  The  virtues  that  were  full-statured  in 
His  life  may  be  realized  tO'  their  fullest  extent 
in  the  life  of  every  child  of  earth.  He  is 
able  to  work  a  divine  work  in  the  human 
heart.  As  nature  in  her  mysterious  labora- 
tory changes  worthless  charcoal  into  costly 
and  precious  diamonds  fit  to  adorn  the  mon- 
arch's brow,  so  Christ  can  transform  human 
souls  into  spiritual  jewels  fit  to  shine  in  His 
own  Divine  Kingdom. 

Hawthorne's  story  of  the  Great  Stone 
Face  is  familiar  to  many.  Nature  in  a  mood 
of  majestic  playfulness  had  sculptured  on  the 
perpendicular  side  of  a  high  mountain  which 
overlooked  a  spacious  and  lovely  valley  a 
207 


Fundamentals  of  the  Cheistian  Eeligion. 

figure  wliicli  resembled  the  human  face; 
From  the  lofty  eminence  with  the  vapor  of 
the  mountains  clustering  about  it  the  benign 
and  noble  features  with  an  expression  grand 
and  sweet  beamed  over  the  valley  illuminat- 
ing the  clouds  and  infusing  sweetness  into 
the  sunshine.  For  long  ages  a,  legend  had 
been  told  that  at  some  future  day  a  child 
should  be  born  hereabouts  who  was  destined 
to  become  the  greatest  personage  of  his  time 
and  whose  countenance  in  manhood  should 
bear  an  exact  resemblance  to  the  great  stone 
face.  Of  the  many  who  in  youth,  went  forth 
from  the  valley  to  other  places  to  seek  fame 
and  renown,  not  a  few  in  after  years  came 
back  to  visit  the  home  of  their  boyhood. 
Among  tlie  number  were  a  wealthy  merchant, 
a  famous  general,  an  eminent  statesman,  and 
a  renowned  poet.  So  illustrious  had  these 
men  become  that  each  in  turn  was  hailed  by 
the  people  as  the  fulfillment  of  the  ancient 
prophecy.  After  the  enthusiasm,  however, 
had  in  each  case  passed  away  it  was  found 
that  none  of  these  distinguished  sons  of  the 
valley  was  he  for  whom  the  people  watched 
and  waited.  The  soul  of  the  merchant  was 
sordid  and  shrunken  with  the  lust  of  gold; 
the  face  of  the  warrior  lacked  in  gentle  wis- 
208 


On  Moral  Perfection. 

dom,  in  the  deep,  broad,  tender  sympathies; 
the  statesman  had  a  weary  gloom  in  the  deep 
caverns  of  his  eyes  as  of  a  man  whose  life 
wa,s  vague  and  empty;  the  poet  had  lived 
among  poor  and  mean  realities  and  had 
lacked  faith  in  grandeur,  beauty,  and  good- 
ness. In  the  valley  was  born  a  lad  who  as 
he  grew  to  manhood  years  cherished  an  en- 
during faith  in  the  old  legend  and  longed 
for  its  fulfillmentw  While  others  concluded 
that  it  was  an  idle  tale,  his  faith  remained 
undimmed.  The  boy  as  he  advanced  to  man- 
hood and  to  old  age,  gazed  and  meditated 
upon  the  benign  face  on  the  mountainside 
until  the  noble  sentiments  expressed  in  it 
enlarged  his  heart  and  filled  it  with  high- 
born thoughts  and  affections.  The  pure  and 
high  simplicity  of  his  thought  wa,s  visible  in 
the  good  deeds  and  loving  service  of  his  daily 
life.  One  evening  as  he  was  discoursing  to 
an  assemblage  of  the  neighboring  inhabitants 
in  the  open  air  in  sight  of  the  great  stone 
face,  which  was  lighted  up  by  the  golden  rays 
of  the  setting  sun,  some  one  suddenly  ob- 
served that  this  man's  conntenance  resembled 
the  face  of  the  mountain.  What  this  observer 
saw  was  at  once  beheld  by  all  the  people, 
and  the  whole  multitude  shouted  that  the 
14  209 


Fundamentals  op  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

prophecy  was  at  last  fulfilled.  Carved  in 
the  rock  of  eternal  truth  is  the  divine  face 
of  Jesus  Christ.  As  the  ideal  expression  of 
the  Infinite  we  have  placed  before  us  as  our 
pattern  the  perfect  life  and  matchless  char- 
acter of  the  Son  of  God.  With  devotion  to 
His  Kingdom,  and  loyalty  to  His  truth,  we 
shall  be  changed  from  glory  into  glory  until 
our  lives  conform  to  His  divine  image.  By 
gazing  upon  His  face  our  hearts  shall  be  en- 
larged and  filled  with  holy  affections  and  our 
lives  transfigured  with  a  glory  begotten  of 
the  skies.  He  is  able  to  impart  new  ideals 
to  men  and  furnish  them  with  a  power  by 
which  they  may  realize  their  noblest  and 
best.  *^  Within  Him  were  the  energies  needed 
to  create  a  perfect  order,  a,  holy  society,  a 
humanity  that  should  articulate  the  Creator ^s 
ideal." 


210 


"He  hath  set  eternity  in  their  heart/' 

— ECCLESIASTES  3: 11. 

"  In  My  Father's  house  are  many  mansions." 

—John  14:2. 

"  Our  Savior  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  abolished  death, 
and  hath  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  through 
the  gospel." — 2  Timothy  1: 10. 

*'  Thou  wilt  not  leave  us  in  the  dust; 

Thou  madest  man,  he  know^s  not  why  ; 
He  thinks  he  was  not  make  to  die ; 
And  Thou  hast  made  him ;  Thou  are  just.'* 

— Tennyson. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  LIFE  EVEELASTING. 

I. 

The  annals  of  English  histoiy  tell  us  that 
in  the  seventh  century  of  our  era  there  arose 
a  discussion  at  the  court  of  Edwin,  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  king,  as  to  whether  the  Christian  re- 
ligion should  he  adopted.  One  of  the  nobles, 
speaking  in  defense  of  Christianity,  said  to 
the  king  as  follows:  ^^The  present  life  of 
man,  0  king,  compared  with  that  space  of 
time  beyond,  of  which  we  have  no  certainty, 
reminds  me  of  one  of  your  winter  feasts, 
where  you  sit  with  your  generals  and  min- 
isters. The  hearth  blazes  in  the  middle,  and 
a  grateful  heat  is  spread  around,  while  storms 
of  rain  and  snow  are  raging  without.  Driven 
by  the  chilling  tempest,  a  little  sparrow  enters 
at  one  door  and  flies  delighted  around  us  till 
it  departs  through  the  other.  "While  it  stays 
in  our  mansion  it  feels  not  the  winter  storm ; 
but  when  this  short  moment  of  happiness  has 
been  enjoyed,  it  is  forced  again  into  the  same 
213 


FUNDAMEITTALS    OF    THE    CHRISTIAN   EeLIGION. 

dreary  tempest  from  whicbi  it  has  escaped, 
and  we  beliold  it  no  more.  Sucli  is  the  life 
of  man,  and  we  are  as  ignorant  of  the  state 
which  preceded  onr  present  existence  as  of 
that  which  will  follow  it.  Things  being  so, 
I  feel  that  if  this  new  faith  can  give  ns  more 
certainty,  it  deserves  to  be  received." 

The  test  which  the  old  earl  applied  to  the 
Christian  religion  is  after  all  the  final  test. 
The  question  concerning  life  after  death  is 
one  which  men  would  rather  have  answered 
than  any  other  question  the  human  mind  can 
raise.  What  light  does  Christianity  throw 
upon  the  continuance  of  life!  What  assur- 
ance of  immortality  does  it  bring  to  the  hu- 
man heart!  Does  the  gospel  of  Christ  lift 
the  veil  which  separates  this  life  from  the 
future!  Does  it  teach  that  the  soul  of  man 
is  destined  to  live  on  after  the  death  of  the 
body!  If  so,  it  is  a  religion  that  is  worthy 
to  be  adopted.  If  it  brings  to  the  heart  of 
humanity  a  well-grounded  hope  of  life  be^ 
yond  the  grave  it  deserves  to  be  received. 

And  this  is  what  Christianity  has  done 
for  mankind.  The  crowning  glory  of  the 
Christian  revelation  is  that  it  has  brought 
life  and  immortality  to  light.  The  Christian 
faith  ha,s  given  to  tlie  race  a  new  and  im- 
214 


The  Life  Everlasting. 

perishable  hope  that  will  last  as  long  as  the 
earth  endures.  The  great  truth  of  a  world 
of  life  and  beauty  beyond  death  where  the 
soul  will  continue  to  achieve  and  develop 
its  powers  is  the  contribution  of  the  Chris- 
tian revelation  to  the  religious  f adth  and 
thought  of  the  race.  ^^Immortality/'  says 
Channing,  ^'is  the  glorious  discovery  of 
Christianity.''  And  this  truth,  one  of  the 
noblest  possessions  of  man,  is  the  ground  of 
all  worthy  endeavor.  It  saves  multitudes 
from  despair  and  furnishes  incentives  to  high 
and  noble  living.  It  lies  at  the  root  of  duty, 
love,  aud  self-sacrifice,  and  ^ Ogives  glory, 
beauty,  and  meaning  to  human  character." 
^^One  of  the  greatest  boons  which  the  teach- 
ing of  Jesus  and  Paul  conferred  upon  man — 
perhaps  the  greatest  ever  conferred  by  any 
religion — was  the  opening  to  the  Christian 
believer  of  a  brighter  world  beyond  the 
grave. ' ' 

This  does  not  mean  that  prior  to  the  ad- 
vent of  Christianity  belief  in  a  future  life 
was  wholly  unknown.  It  does  not  mean  that 
before  Christ  came  there  existed  no  hope  of 
immortality.  The  Cliristian  conception  of  a 
future  life  does  not  claim  to  be  a  new  doc- 
trine. Long  before  the  rise  of  the  Christian 
215 


Fundamentals  of  the  Chkistian  Religion. 

religion  the  ancients  lived  in  the  thought  of 
another  world  to  which  the  soul  went  after 
death.  Belief  in  the  persistence  of  life  was 
as  universal  as  belief  in  the  existence  of 
divinities.  But  previous  to  the  advent  of 
Christ  faith  in  a  life  beyond  rested  on  no 
sure  and  certain  Imowledge;  it  was  largely 
a  guess,  a  matter  of  conjecture.  Doubts 
arose  even  in  the  minds  of  the  best  men  as 
to  the  reality  of  a  future  existence.  Even 
the  mind  of  Socrates  was  shrouded  in  doubt 
and  gloom.  The  closing  words  of  his  apology 
were:  ^^But  now  the  time  has  come,  and  we 
must  go  hence;  I  to  die,  and  you  to  live. 
Whether  life  or  death  is  better  is  known  to 
Grod,  and  to  God  only.*'  Cicero  said: 
''Which  of  these— two  theories,  of  life  or 
no  life  after  death— God  only  knows;  and 
which  is  most  probable  is  a  very  great  ques- 
tion.'* Jesus,  however,  rescued  the  belief 
from  doubt  and  made  it  a  moral  certainty. 
Concerning  the  immortality  of  the  soul  He 
spoke  with  absolute  assurance.  "Wliat  was 
obscure  and  fragmentary  in  the  teaching  of 
others  became  lucid  and  complete  in  His 
teaching.  While  others  hesitated  and  were 
filled  with  uncertainty.  He  spoke  with  a  con- 
viction born  of  absolute  knowledge.  While 
216 


The  Life  Everlasting. 

others  faltered  before  the  mystery  of  death, 
He  taught  in  clear,  full  tones  and  cast  an 
imperishable  light  upon  the  destiny  of  man. 
Not  a  shadow  of  doubt  as  to  the  certainty 
of  the  deathlessness  of  the  soul  ever  crossed 
His  mind.  A  calm  assurance  ' '  as  of  impreg- 
nable faitli  and  clear  insight''  breathes 
through  His  words,  carrying  conviction  to 
every  heart. 

Turaing  to  the  direct  words  of  Christ,  we 
find  that  He  teaches  in  calm,  majestic  tones 
that  man  is  destined  to  live  on  endlessly. 
The  substance  of  His  teaching  on  this  ques- 
tion is  that  God  will  give  unto  His  children 
that  life  which,  He  Himself  possesses.  Jesus 
looks  forward  to  a  future  life  of  bliss  for  all 
true  believers.  In  His  pregnant  and  infallible 
way  He  announces  that  the  life  of  God  in 
the  soul  is  of  endless  duration.  To  the  sor- 
rowing Martha  at  the  grave  of  La,za,rus  He 
exclaims:  ^^I  a,m  the  resurrection  and  the 
life ;  he  that  believeth  in  Me,  though  he  were 
dead,  yet  shall  he  live ;  and  whosoever  liveth 
and  believeth  in  Me  shall  never  die."  He 
teaches  that  ^'God  so  loved  the  world  that 
He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  tha,t  who- 
soever believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish, 
but  have  everlasting  life."  **This  is  life 
217 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

eternal/'  says  Christ,  ^Hliat  tliey  miglit 
know  Thee  the  only  true  God.''  On  the  eve 
of  His  departure  He  comforts  the  hearts  of 
His  disciples  with  the  a,ssurance  that  He  is 
going  to  His  Father  to  prepare  a  place  for 
them.  "His  last  and  most  intimate  revela- 
tion of  the  life  beyond  death  He  put  in  the 
plain  and  common  language  of  our  human 
homes  and  fellowship."  He  tells  them,  that 
there  are  mansions  in  His  Father's  house 
which  will  be  their  eternal  home.  Perfect  in 
love  and  one  with  Grod  as  He  is  one  with 
tlie  Father,  they  will  see  Him  and  dwell  with 
Him  forever.  "Where  I  am  there  ye  may  be 
also."  "Like  a  great  bell  of  hope,  mellow, 
ceaseless,  glorious  in  its  music,  the  words  of 
the  soul's  Savior  ring  across  the  world: 
^Because  I  live,  ye  shall  live  also.'  *In  My 
Father's  house  are  many  mansions.  If  it 
were  not  so  I  would  have  told  you.'  " 

The  same  truth  shines  forth  in  the  writ- 
ings of  the  apostles.  John,  the  beloved  dis- 
ciple, expresses  his  sure  hope  of  immortality 
in  the  words:  "Beloved,  now  are  we  the 
sons  of  God,  and  it  doth  not  yet  appear  what 
we  shall  be;  but  we  know  that  when  He  shall 
appear  we  shall  be  like  Him,  for  we  shall 
see  Him  as  He  is."  Paul,  who  had  seen  Ms 
218 


The  Life  Everlasting. 

Lord  in  mystic  vision,  writes:  God  '^will 
render  to  every  man  according  to  his  deeds ; 
to  tliem  who  by  patient  continuance  in  well- 
doing seek  for  glory  and  honor  and  immor- 
tality, eternal  life.'^  The  appeal  of  Jude  to 
believers  is,  ^  ^  Keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of 
God,  looking  for  the  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  unto  eternal  life. ' '  And  Peter  assures 
Christian  believers  that  there  is  reserved  in 
heaven  for  them  *^an  inheritance  incorrupti- 
ble, and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away." 
The  assurance  wliich  the  Christian  revelar 
tion  gives  of  immortality  does  not  rest,  how- 
ever, on  certain  proof- texts  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, but  is  inseparably  bound  up  with  the 
truth  that  Christ  proclaimed  concerning  the 
character  of  God  and  the  nature  of  man.  It 
is  interwoven  with  the  wonderful  system  of 
truth  which  Jesus  has  given  the  world.  It  is 
an  essential  part  of  His  doctrine  of  God,  of 
life,  and  of  the  human  soul.  It  is  an  assmnp- 
tion  that  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  intel- 
ligibility of  His  own  life  and  teaching.  Apart 
from  the  doctrine  of  an  endless  life  many  of 
the  words  of  Christ  become  empty  sounds. 
Consider  His  teaching  concerning  the  soul. 
We  have  already  seen  that  Jesus  proclaims 
the  soul  as  a  thing  that  outweighs  in  value  the 
219 


Fundamentals  of  the  Chkistian  Eeligion. 

whole  material  creation.  Man  is  immeasur- 
ably above  the  brute  realm.;  he  is  dowered 
with  lofty  intellectual  and  moral  powers.  He 
is  rational,  self-conscious,  and  free.  God, 
moreover,  is  solicitous  in  his  every  need. 
Jesus  counsels  mien  not  to  be  over-anxious 
concerning  food  and  raiment,  but  to  trust  im- 
plicitly in  Grod  for  all  earthly  good.  He 
teaches  them  to  labor,  not  for  the  meat  which 
perisheth,  but  for  the  mieat  which  endureth 
unto  everlasting  life.  He  commands  them  to 
be  perfect  like  unto  their  Father  which  is  in 
heaven. 

"What  does  a  being  of  such  proportions 
mean?  Why  has  he  been  so  richly  endowed? 
Why  is  God  so  deeply  concerned  in  His  wel- 
fare? Why  has  the  Infinite  been  at  such  pains 
to  hedge  about  His  limnan  child  with  His  care 
and  to  show  him  the  fullness  of  His  love? 
Why  has  He  made  rich  provision  for  his 
physical  and  spiritual  needs?  Such  a  rela- 
tion of  man  to  God  not  only  expresses  the 
possibility  of  the  soul's  communion  with  the 
divine,  but  it  involves  immortality.  God's 
solicitude  in  His  children  approa,ches  as  near 
to  a  proof  as  it  is  possible  to  possess  of  the 
immortality  of  the  human  soul.  On  no  other 
assumption  is  the  attitude  of  God  to  man 

220 


The  Life  Everlasting. 

intelligible.  Fl'om  Good's  vital  interest  in 
mankind  the  doctrine  of  a  future  life  follows. 

Moreover,  man's  union  witli  God  is  an 
earnest  and  pledge  of  the  immortal  life.  The 
new  birth  and  the  ever-present  Spirit  furnish 
an  assurance  of  the  after-existence  of  the 
soul.  The  life  of  God  in  man,  Christ  teaches, 
is  eternal.  Eternal  life,  says  Jesus,  is  the 
union  of  the  soul  with  God.  Jesus  prayed 
that  the  life  of  God  which  was  in  Him  might 
be  reproduced  in  the  hearts  of  His  disciples. 
The  endless  life  is  no  super-added  element, 
but  is  knowledge  of  God.  ^  ^  This  is  life  eter- 
nal that  they  might  know  Thee,  the  only  true 
God. ' '  It  is  no  gift  externally  bestowed,  but 
consists  in,  doing  the  will  of  God.  ^^He  that 
doeth  the  will  of  God  abideth  forever.''  The 
life  of  the  believer  whose  joy  is  toi  do  the 
Father's  will  a,nd  whose  soul  is  filled  with 
the  inflowing  tides  of  the  divine  love  *4s 
knit  up  with  the  very  life  of  the  Eternal." 
Man.  can  not  perish  for  the  personal  life  of 
the  Infinite  dwells  in  him,  filling  and  over- 
flowing all  the  channels  of  his  being.  While 
at  death  the  body  returns  to  the  earth  whence 
it  came,  man's  union  with  God  becomes  more 
intimate  and  real. 

The  strongest  evidence  in  favor  of  immor- 

221 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

tality  is,  however,  furnished  by  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ.  The  resurrection  of 
Jesus  abolished  death  and  gave  to  the  world 
a  new  and  imperishable  hope  of  life  beyond 
the  grave.  The  Easter  message  is  the  glad- 
detst  and  most  triumphant  that  ever  came  to 
the  world.  Its  essential  truth  is  that  man 
shall  live.  It  is  an  assurance  that  man's 
faith  in  a.  future  world,  his  yearning  for  the 
illimitable',  is  no  fond  dream,  but  a  well-based 
hope  that  will  be  gloriously  realized.  Christ 's 
resurrection  robbed  death  of  its  terrors  and 
created  a  new  belief  in  the  unseen  world.  His 
triumph  over  the  grave  has  enlarged  the  faith 
of  mankind  in  a  life  beyond  and  has  quick- 
ened the  inner  experience  of  all  true  be- 
lievers. 

Harnack,  in  speaking  of  the  resurrection 
of  Jesus,  confirms  the  view  that  the  grave 
of  Christ  is  the  primary  source  of  our  hope 
in  an  immortal  life.  *^ Whatever,"  he  says, 
*^may  have  happened  at  the  grave  and  in 
the  matter  of  the  appearances,  one  thing  is 
certain:  This  grave  was  the  birthplace  of 
the  indestructible  belief  that  death  is  van- 
quished, and  there  is  a  life  eternal.  It  is 
useless  to  cite  Plato;  it  is  useless  to  point 
to  the  Persian  religion  and  the  ideas  and 

222 


The  Life  Everlasting. 

literature  of  later  Judaism.  All  tliat  would 
have  perished  and  has  perished;  but  the 
certainty  of  the  resurrection  and  of  a  life 
eternal  which  is  bound  up  with  the  gi'ave 
in  Joseph's  garden  has  not  perished,  and 
on  the  conviction  that  Jesus  lives  we  still 
base  those  hopes  of  citizenship  in  an  eternal 
city  which  makes  our  earthly  life  worth  liv- 
ing and  tolerable.  ^He  delivered  them  who 
through  fear  of  death  were  all  their  lifetime 
subject  to  bondage,'  as  the  writer  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  confesses.  That  is 
the  point.  And  although  there  be  exceptions 
tO'  its  sway,  wherever,  despite  all  the  weight 
of  nature,  there  is  a  strong  faith  in  the  in- 
finite value  of  the  soul;  wherever  death  has 
lost  its  terrors;  wherever  the  sufferings  of 
the  present  are  me:a,sured  against  a  future 
glory,  this  feeling  of  life  is  bound  up  with 
the  conviction  that  Jesus  Christ  ha.s  passed 
through  death,  that  God  has  awakened  Him 
and  raised  Him  to  life  and  glory. ''^^  His 
resurrection  is  the  promise  and  surety  of  the 
deathless  life  of  man.  The  destiny  of  the 
race  is  bound  up  with  His  victory  over  the 
tomb.  Because  He  is  the  ma,ster  of  the  grave 
and  holds  the  keys  of  death  and  hell  the  im- 
mortality of  mankind  is  assured.  ^^  Because 
223 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

I  live^  ye  shall  live  also."  In  this  assurance 
is  centered  our  bopet,  not  only  for  ourselves, 
but  for  all  our  loved  ones  wbo  bave  fallen 
asleep  in  Christ.  % 


n. 

From  the  teachings  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion we  turn  to  learn  what  science  and  the 
human  reason  have  to  offer  on  the  question 
of  immortality.  In  addition  to  the  light  that 
Christianity  sheds  upon  our  Imowledge  of  a 
future  existence,  the  human  mind  has  formu- 
lated certain  arguments  in  favor  of  the  death- 
lessness  of  the  soul.  A  brief  examination 
of  the  most  importiant  of  these  arguments 
will  not  be  amiss  since  they  tend  to  strengthen 
our  faith  in  the  Christian  doctrine  of  life  be- 
yond death. 

One  of  the  most  convincing  arguments  for 
life  beyond  the  grave  which  is  furnished  by 
human  thought  is  that  founded  on  instinctive 
desire.  ^  ^  The  strongest  argument, ' '  in  favor 
of  an  immortal  life,  says  Cicero,  ^4s  that 
nature  herself  is  tacitly  persuaded  of  the  un- 
mortality  of  the  soul;  which  appears  from 
that  great  concern,  so  generally  felt  by  all, 
for  what  shall  happen  after  death. ' '    Within 

224 


The  Life  Everlasting. 

the  human  heart  are  immoTtal  longings.  Man 
is  endowed  with  an  instinctive  and  powerful 
love  of  life;  there  is  begotten  within  him  a 
hope  that  he  will  survive  the  grave.  An  in- 
ward horror  arises  at  the  thonght  of  annihi- 
lation. The  soul  utterly  refuses  to  entertain 
the  idea  that  at  death  it  sinks  into  ohlivion 
and  is  forgotten.  Man  can  not  endure  the 
thought  that  he  dieth  a,s  the  brute  dieth;  he 
has  an  irrepressible  faith  in  his  own  survival. 
And  this  belief  is  normal,  ^^for  it  is  a  product 
of  the  unperverted  constitution  of  the  human 
mind.''  It  is  not  a  seliish  desire  nor  the'  rcr 
suit  of  human  conceit,  but  an  essential  ele- 
ment of  man's  inner  being.  It  is  an  instinct 
of  self-preservation  and  is  inwoven  int.oi  the 
very  fiber  of  the  soul.  So  deeply  inwrought 
and  ineradicable  is  tliis  instinct  in,  the  human 
breast  that,  no-  argument  can  overthrow  it  nor 
doubt  efface  it. 

The  belief  in  immortality  is  universal  as 
well  as  instinctive.  All  men,  of  every  age  and 
clime,  ancient  and  modern,  pagan  and  Chris- 
tian, have  implicitly  believed  in  it.  There  is 
no  trace  of  any  tribe  or  nation  who  have 
not  looked  forward  to  another  life.  ^^All 
men,"  says  Theodore  Parker,  ^^ desire  to  be 
immortal. ' '    Before  the  yearning  imagination 

15  225 


Fundamentals  of  the  Chkistian  Eeligion. 

of  all  people-s  have  flitted  visions  of  another 
world  where  the  soul  lives  after  its  exist- 
ence on  earth  has  ceased.  *^The  unvarying 
verdict  of  the  common  consciousness  of  man- 
kind'^ is  that  man  is  immortal.  The  testi- 
mony of  the  ages  avers  that  death  is  not  the 
end.  The  voice  of  history  proclaims  that 
man  survives  the  destruction  of  the  body.  In 
the  heart  of  the  race  is  rooted  the  idea  that 
the  human  being  was  not  made  for  a  day, 
but  is  heir  to  an  immortal  life.  And  the  hope 
of  immortality  springing  up  in  the  human 
heart  has  been  strengthened  with  the  pass- 
ing centuries.  It  has  not,  been  confined  toi  the 
illiterate  and  unthinking,  but  has  become  the 
possession  of  many  of  the  noblest  minds^  of 
all  ages.  It  does  not  belong  exclusively  to 
the  untutored  and  the  ignorant,  for  it  has 
been  the  faith  of  the  best  spirits  that  the 
world  has  produced.  ^^It  is  not  he  who  be- 
lieves in  a  life  beyond  who  is  called  on  to 
prove  his  faith;  he  has  the  majority  of  the 
ages  behind  him,  and  in  that  majority  have 
been  the  wisest,  purest,  and  most  thoughtful 
of  those  who  have  lived  in  every  nation. ' ' 

Whence  arises  this  instinctive  and  uni- 
versal belief?  How  is  it  that  the  desire  for 
immortality  is  deep-seated  and  persistent? 

226 


The  Life  Everlasting. 

Why  is  it  that  the  longing  for  an  endless 
life  is  rooted  in  the  heart  of  the  imperial 
thinker  as  well  as  of  the  untutored  peasant? 
If  there  be  no  future  existence,  how  shall 
we  aiccount  for  the  irrepressible  faith  in  its 
reality!  Some  have  called  belief  in  im- 
mortality a  dream,  but  whence  came  the 
dream?  Others  have  declared  that  it  is  a 
superstition  of  ignorant  minds,  but  whence 
arose  the  superstition?  It  is  incredible  that 
a  conviction  so  deeply  inwoven  into  the  very 
warp  and  woof  of  man's>  spiritual  nature 
should  be  devoid  of  meaning.  The  longing  of 
the  heart  for  an  immortal  life  is  in  itself  a 
proof  of  such  a  life.  Aristotle  says :  *  ^  What- 
soever that  be  within  us  that  feels,  thinks, 
desires,  and  animates,  is  something  celestial, 
divine,  and  consequently  imperishable, ' '  The 
fact,  moreover,  that,  belief  in  the  continuance 
of  life  has  prevailed  through  all  the  ages, 
among  all  classes  of  people,  in  the  heart  of 
the  sage  as  well  a,s  in  the  bosom  of  the  sav- 
age, can  be  explained  on  the  sole  assumption 
that  man  is  destined  to  live  forever.  The  uni- 
versality of  the  desire  is  an  argument  that 
He  who  has  implanted  it  within  the  soul  is 
pleged  tO'  insure  its  fulfillment.  It  has  been 
justly  observed  that  whatever  endures  from 

227 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

age  to  age  and  resists  expulsion  from  the 
feelings  of  the  race  gives  overwhelming  evi- 
dence that  it  is  true. 

The  argument  for  immortality  which  is 
based  on  instinctive  desire  finds  its  analogue 
in  the  laws  that  prevail  in  nature.  Science 
informs  us  that  in  the  material  realm  every 
organism  has  its  appropriate  environment. 
There  exists  no  organism  which  does  not  find 
its  fitting  complement  in  the  physical  order. 
There  is  no  desire  which  does  not  somewhere 
find  its  gratification;  every  organic  instinct 
has  its  correlate.  Provision  is  made  for 
every  want  of  man,  beast,  and  plant.  The  eye 
and  the  sunbeam,  the  ear  and  the  waves  of 
sound,  the  lungs  and  the  air,  are  wondrously 
adapted  to  each  other.  When  Grod  made  the 
fin  of  the  fish  He  made  tlie  water  for  it  to 
swin  in ;  when  He  made  the  wing  of  the  bird, 
He  made  the  air  for  it  to  fly  in;  when  He 
made  the  insect.  He  made  for  it  the  forest 
bed.  As  it  is  in  the  physical  realmi,  so'  it  is 
in  the  moral  and  spirittial  realm.  The  de- 
sire for  immortality  in  the  hearts  of  men 
finds  its  complement  in  a  world  of  life  and 
truth.  The  same  God  who  has  made  the  sun- 
beam for  the  eye  and  wave-sounds  for  the  ear 
has  provided  an  endless  life  for  man.     He 

228 


The  Life  Everlasting. 

who  has  made  moisture  for  the  root  of  the 
plant  and  sunlight  for  the  leaf,  will  not  fail 
to  gratify  the  deep  yearnings  of  the  human 
heart.  He  will  not  mock  us  by  giving  im- 
mortal longings  that  must  forever  remain 
unsatisfied.  "We  feel  confident  that  God's 
promises  to  us  will  be  fulfilled.  He  is  not  a 
man  that  He  should  lie.  He  will  keep  His 
word  with  us.  The  longing  of  the  heart  for 
the  illimitable  and  the  unseen  is  itself  the  evi- 
dence of  the  reality  for  which  it  calls.  As 
the  rich  coloring  of  the  plant  points  unmis- 
takably to  the  potencies  of  light,  so  the  in- 
stinctive desire  for  a  life  beyond  points  to  a 
future  world.  As  the  aesthetic  sense  finds  its 
answer  in  the  beauties  of  the  world  of  nature, 
in  flower  and  in  landscape,  so  the  soul  with 
its  wistful  longings  for  the  invisible  finds  its 
answer  in  a  world  of  infinite  tmth  and  beauty. 
Like  some  tropical  bird  in  a  Northern  clime 
that  is  called  by  the  instinct  within  to  the 
sunny  lands  of  the  South  which  are  its  true 
habitat,  so  the  voices  within  man  draw  him 
to  that  larger  life  for  which  he  is  destined 
and  which  is  his  own  true  home. 

An  Indian  chief  was  asked  by  an  officer: 
< '  Why  are  you  content?  Pain  and  old  age  are 
not  good  things  r'    The  aged  chief  was  silent 

229 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Eeligion. 

a  while,  and  tlien  said :  ^  ^  The  bird  that  builds 
its  nest  on  the  tree  near  my  wigwam  in 
smnmer  leaves  it  when  winter  is  coming,  and 
travels  thousands  of  miles  to  the  southward, 
but  in  the  spring  it  will  come  back  across 
mountains  and  rivers  to  that  very  same  nest. 
How  do  such  creatures  know  the  way!  They 
have  no  map,  no  guide.  The  Great  Spirit 
puts  something  in  their  hearts  to  draw  them 
back  to  their  homes.  And  He  has  not  for- 
gotten to  put  something  in  each  man's  heart 
that  draws  him,  draws  him  all  his  life  long, 
up  to  his  home.  I  am  coming  near  to  mine. 
Shall  I  not  be  glad  r' 

The  argument  for  immiortality  founded  on 
instinctive  desire  has  been  well  summarized 
by  Addison  in  the  following  lines : 

"  Plato,  thou  reason'st  well, 
Else  whence  this  pleasing  hope,  this  fond  desire, 
This  longing  after  immortality? 
Or  whence  this  secret  dread,  and  inward  horror 
Of  falling  into  naught?    Why  shrinks  the  soul 
Back  on  herself,  and  startles  at  destruction? 
'T  is  the  divinity  that  stirs  within  us ; 
'T  is  heaven  itself  that  points  out  an  hereafter, 
And  intimates  eternity  to  man." 

A  second  argument  for  life  beyond  the 
horizon  of  earth  is  based  on  the  fact  that 
human  existence  is  too  brief  for  a  complete 
230 


T!he  Life  Everlasting. 

development  of  tJie  powers  of  the  mind.  The 
scale  on  which  man  is  planned  is  too  large 
for  completion  in  this  world.  The  faculties 
with  which  the  human  spirit  is  endowed  are 
in  this  life  but  meagerly  developed.  As  un- 
told treasures  of  gold,  silver,  and  gems  lie 
hidden  in  the  earth,  so  within  the  human  heart 
lie  uncovered  riches.  Many  of  the  best 
thoughts,  noblest  aspirations,  and  deepest 
yearnings  of  the  mind  are  never  expressed. 
There  are  within  us  all  f  acultieis  which  find  no 
adequate  eixpression  within  the  limits  of  this 
earthly  existence.  History  has  shown  us  that 
there  have  been  many  dowered  with  vast  ca- 
pacities and  capable  of  lofty  deeds  who  have 
died  without  reaching  the  plenitude  of  tlieir 
powers.  Many  are  there  who,  possessing 
large  possibilities,  advance  but  to  the  bud 
and  blossom  stage  of  development  Like  the 
plant  which  is  smitten  by  the  untimely  frost 
ere  it  bears  its  fruitage,  so  many  a  life  is 
cut  off  by  death  ere  it  comes  to  fruition. 
Upon  the  tombstone  of  many  a  grave  may  be 
written  the  words,  *^A  mute  inglorious  Mil- 
ton here  doth  rest"  Chatterton  dying  at 
seventeen,  Keats  at  twenty-five,  Eaphael  at 
thirty-seven,  are  illustrious  examples  of  the 
truth  that  the  successes  of  man  are  broken 

231 


Fundamentals  of  the  Chkistian  Eeligion, 

and  incomplete.  The  fact  of  the  matter  is 
that  the  brief  span  of  time  at  man's  disposal 
is  all  too  short  for  the  full  .development  of 
his  being.  Theodore  Parker  on  his  deathbed 
exclaimed:  ^'I  wish  I  could  carry  on  my 
work.  I  have  only  used  half  my  powers." 
^^BushnelPs  mind  teems  with  new  thoughts 
to  the  la^t ;  and  he  carried  with  him  infinitely 
more  and  better  thoughts  than  he  left  behind 
him,  noble  as  these  are."  Think  also  of  the 
untold  millions  of  human  souls  created  in 
the  image  of  God  who  go  down  to  the  grave 
without  even  any  adequate  conception  of  the 
larger  possibilities  of  life.  To  the  teeming 
millions  of  Africa,  China,  and  the  isles  of 
the  sea,  few  opportunities  are  given  for 
mental  and  moral  growthi.  As  nature  in  the 
springtime  lavishly  clothes  the  plains  and 
meadows  with  fragrant  flowers  only  a  few 
months  later  to  sweep  them  aside  forever,  so 
she  produces  teeming  populations  which  ere 
they  begin  to  unfold  their  powers  or  are 
even  conscious  of  them  fall  to  the  ground  and 
die. 

Why  is  it  that  the  Creator  has  dowered 
man  with  faculties  that  require  iniinite  ages 
for  development  and  allowed  him  but  three- 
score years  and  ten!     Why  is  it  that  the 

232 


The  Life  Everlasting. 

Eternal  has  implanted  in  the  human  child 
germs  that  need  an  endless  period  and  a 
favorable  clime  for  their  maturing  and 
granted  him  but  a,  brief  summer  under  un- 
inviting skies?  Why  has  He  created  the  soul 
capable  of  illimitable  progress  and  allotted 
it  but  a  short  day?  **It  impugns  the  wisdom 
of  God  to  suppose  that  a  being  which  He  has 
endowed  with  such  marvelous  powers  is  cre- 
ated to  perish.''  If  there  be  no  future  life 
where  the  work  beigun  here  will  be  carried 
to  completion,  where  the  ideals  formed  on 
earth  will  be  realized,  and  where  the  soul  will 
come  into  full  possession  of  itself,  Grod  is  the 
most  irrational  of  beings.  Should  He  cast 
man  with  his  plans  unfulfilled,  his  hopes  un- 
attained,  his  thirst  for  knowledge  unsatisfied 
into  unmitigated  night,  He  is  the  greatest  of 
deceivers..  Should  He  allow  the  soul  with  its 
immortal  longings,  its  boundless  aspirations, 
its  quenchless  love  to  die  as  the  beast  dieth, 
He  deserves  naught  but  execration  and  con- 
tempt. Human  life  without  immortality  to 
complete  it  becomes  an  egregrious  blunder, 
a  ghastly  mockery.  If  man's  hopes  are  to 
be  blighted,  his  yearnings  crushed,  his  high- 
born thought  to  slide  into  oblivion,  this  pres- 
ent existence  becomes  a  hollow  sham,  a  mean- 

233 


Fundamentals  of  the  Cheistian  Religion. 

ingle ss  wail.  A  universe  which  sends  man 
down  to  the  pit,  dooms  him  to  eternal  dark- 
ness, and  covers  him  forever  with  the  pall  of 
death  is  at  its  very  root  irrational  and  un- 
moral. 

"  My  own  dim  life  should  teach  me  this, 
That  life  shall  live  for  evermore, 
Else  earth  is  darkness  at  the  core, 
And  dust  and  ashes  all  that  is." 

But  we  think  that  the  universe  is  not  thus 
constituted.  We  believe  in  the  rationality  of 
G-od.  Grod  would  not  prostitute  His  creative 
power  by  bringing  into  being  this  thinking, 
emotional,  and  moral  spirit  and  oast  him 
finally  into  oblivion.  ^^For  my  own  part," 
says  John  Fiske,  ''I  believe  in  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul,  not  in  the  sense  in  which 
I  a,ccept  the  demonstrable  truths  of  science, 
but  as  a  supreme  act  of  faith  in  the  reason- 
ableness of  God^s  work.''  That  is  the  point. 
If  God  is  a  just  Being,  if  the  universe  is 
grounded  in  rationality,  if  life  possesses 
meaning  and  worth,  if  moral  values  are  last- 
ing, then  it  is  altogether  incredible  that  man 
goes  forth  into  darkness  and  death.  Those, 
therefore,  who  are  cut  down  in  the  midst  of 
their  labors  with  their  work  unfinished  will 
be  afforded  another  life  where  the  tasks  of 
earth  shall  be  taken  up  and  carried  forward 
234 


The  Life  Everlasting. 

to  completion.  The  powers  of  the  soul  which 
here  under  uncongenial  skies  are  but  mea- 
gerly  unfolded  will  there  in  the  presence  of 
the  eternal  sunlight  become  fully  developed. 
Cicero  asserted  that  the  endowments  of  the 
mind  seem  to  imply  another  life.  And  Kant 
wrote:  ^^In  view  of  the  divine  wisdom,  and 
having  respect  to  the  splendid  endowment  of 
human  nature  and  to  the  shortness  of  life, 
so  inadequate  for  its  development,  we  can 
find  an  equally  satisfactory  ground  for  a  doc- 
trinal faith  in  the  future  life  of  the  human 
soul."  Thus  man's  intellectual  and  moral 
gifts,  his  achievements  which  are  utterly  in- 
commensurate with  his  desires,  and  above  all 
his  quenchless  love,  assure  us  that  his  edu- 
cation begnin  on  earth  will  be  continued  in  a 
brighter  world. 

A  third  argument  for  immortality  is 
founded  on  the  inequalities  of  human  life. 
The  world  is  full  of  wrong.  Human  life  is 
burdened  with  injustice.  Eewards  are  not 
always  distributed  according  to  merit.  Vice 
clothes  herself  in  purple  and  fine  linen,  virtue 
lies  at  the  gate,  eating  crumbs  and  clothed 
in  rags.  Justice  is  defeated,  wrong  sits  in 
authority.  Good  men  are  afflicted  and  op- 
pressed, bad  men  prosper  and  triumph.    The 

235 


Fundamentals  of  the  Chkistian  Eeligion. 

hero  lies  in  the  dungeon,  the  tyrant  sits  on 
the  throne.  The  reformer  lives  in  a  hovel, 
the  sot  dwells  in  the  palace  of  a  king.  The 
innocent  man  is  sent  to  the  gallows,  the  crim- 
inal whose  hand  is  red  with  blood  goes  free. 
Wise  and  brave  men  are  cut  down  by  death 
in  the  flower  of  life,  ignorant  men  and  cow- 
ards go  down  to  tlie  grave  full  of  years. 
Many  whose  lives  are  devoted  to  the  service 
of  their  fellows  are  victims  of  disease,  others 
whose  presence  is  a  menace  to  society  enjoy 
prosperity  and  health.  The  saint  is  burned 
at  the  stake  or  is  thrown  to  wild  beasts,  the 
villain  is  set  up  on  high. 

Now,  there  is  in  the  heart  of  man  an  in- 
stinctive feeling  that  such  inequalities  should 
not  exist.  We  are  outraged  and  our  sense  of 
justice  shocked  when  men  are  wronged.  The 
human  heart  is  so  constituted  that  it  can  not 
view  with  complacency  injustice  and  wrong. 
We  think  that  since  God  has  brought  human 
beings  into  existence  He  is  obligated  to  scr- 
cure  for  them  just  treatment.  He  has  duties 
toward  men  which  can  be  discharged  only 
as  He  insures  justice  to  all.  Such  a  life, 
therefore,  as  this  can  not  be  oomplete  in  itself. 
The  present  scene  of  action  can  not  be 
man's  sole  sphere  of  activity.  No  just  and 
236 


The  Life  Everlasting. 

beneficent  God  would  have  created  a  world 
so  full  of  iinperfections  without  having  or- 
dained a  future  life  where  the  wrongs  of  earth 
may  be  righted  and  its  mysteries  made  clear. 
A  world,  complete  in  itself,  in  which  the  in- 
nocent suffer,  the  brave  and  true  are  op- 
pressed, and  where  righteousness  is  defeated 
can  not  be  the  work  of  a  wise  and  good  God. 
If  there  be  no  life  beyond  where  the  present 
inequalities  shall  be  set  right,  human,  life  be^ 
comes  a  disappointment  and  despair.  A 
future  existence  is  absolutely  essential  where 
the  glaring  injustices  of  earth  shall  be  cor- 
rected and  where  God  shall  vindicate  His 
ways  to  men.  It  was  Socrates  who  said:  **I 
believe  a  future  life  is  needed  to>  avenge  the 
wrongs  of  this  present  life.  In  the  future 
life  justice  shall  be  administered  to  us,  and 
those  who  have  done  their  duty  here  in  that 
future  life  shall  find  their  chief  delight  in 
seeking  after  wisdom.  * ' 

**  There  is  no  reconciling  wisdom  with  a  world  distraught, 
Goodness  with  triumphant  evil,  power  with  failure  in 

the  aim, 
If— (to  my  own  sense,  remember  I  though  none  other 

feel  the  same  !) — 
If  you  bar  me  from  assuming  earth  to  be  a  pupil's  place. 
And  life,  time,— with  all  their  chances,  changes,— just 

probation  space, 
Mine,  for  me  I*' 

237. 


Fundamentals  of  the  Chkistian  Religion. 

The  nature  or  constitution  of  tlie  hnmaii 
mind,  moreover,  affords  an  argument  for  tke 
inunortality  of  man.  Human  personality  is 
essentially  unlike  everytliing  else  in  the 
world.  However  spirit  may  be  defined  it  has 
nothing  in  common  with  material  things;  it 
belongs  to  another  and  higher  order.  It  is 
a  self-conscious  agent  which  reflectively  expe- 
riences tbe  world  of  nature.  We  are  not, 
however,  unaware  of  the  materialistic  as- 
sumption that  the  soul  is  tbe  function  of  mat- 
ter and  perishes  with  the  dissolution  of  the 
body.  We  are  told  that  the  mind  with  all  its 
states— thought,  volitions,  feelings— has  been 
evolved  from  the  fire-mist  by  mechanical 
processes,  and  that  with  the  destruction  of  the 
physical  organism  it  vanishes  forever.  To 
enter  upon  an  examination  of  materialism  is 
beyond  our  present  purpose  and  would  take 
us  too  far  afield.  We  pause,  however,  to 
state  that  to  identify  the  mind  with  matter 
is  as  unscientific  as  it  is  unphilosophical. 
Though  the  mind  is  closely  connected  with  the 
brain,  yet  it  can  in  no  way,  without  the  over- 
throw of  reason  itself,  be  identified  with  it. 
We  quote  here  the  trenchant  words  of  John 
Fiske:  **The  materialistic  assumption  that 
there  is  no  such  state  of  things  (as  thought 
238 


The  Life  Everlasting. 

and  feeling  without  a  cerebrum),  and  that 
the  life  of  the  soul  accordingly  ends  with  the 
life  of  the  body,  is  perhaps  the  most  colossal 
instance  of  baseless  assumption  that  is  known 
to  the  history  of  philosophy." 

Since  the  mind  is  a  self-conscious  agent 
which  remains  one  and  the  same  through,  all 
the  change  and  shift  of  material  things,  there 
is  no  reason  why  it  may  not  survive  physical 
decay  and  dissolution.  If  as  a  self -identify- 
ing being  it  persists  amid  the  flux  and  flow 
of  this  earthly  life,  we  may  well  suppose  that 
it  will  continue  after  death.  Its  persistence 
through  all  the  changes  of  experience  furnish 
irrefragable  proof  that  it  will  outlive  the 
body.  This  implies  that  the  relation  of  the 
soul  to  the  body  may  be  that  of  the  harper 
tO'  the  harp.  As  by  means  of  the  harp  the 
harper  gives  expression  to  the  music  that  is 
within  him,  so  the  body  is  the  soul's  medium 
of  expression.  And  though  the  music  ceases 
when  the  harp  is  broken,  the  harper  himself 
is  not  destroyed.  His  instrument  may  be  put 
out  of  action,  but  the  musician  himself  lives. 
So  with  the  soul.  The  body,  the  soul's  harp, 
may  decay  and  die,  but  the  soul  itself  peirsists. 
To  assert  that  the  soul  vanishes  with  the 
death  of  the  body  is  as  if  one  were  to  affirm 
239 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

that  the  harper  perishes  when  his  harp  be- 
comeis  uselesss.  Decay  and  death  which  reign 
supremie  in  the  physical  world  are  unknown 
in  the  realm  of  the  spirit.  It  is  in  the  assur- 
ance that  the  soul  is  nntonched  by  the  changes 
that  take  place  in  nature  that  Addison  sings : 

"  The  soul,  secure  in  her  existence,  smiles 
At  the  drawn  dagger  and  defies  its  point. 
The  stars  shall  fade  away,  and  the  sun  himself 
Grow  dim  with  age,  and  nature  sink  in  years, 
But  thou  shalt  flourish  in  immortal  youth, 
Unhurt,  amidst  the  w^ar  of  elements, 
The  wreck  of  matter,  and  the  crash  of  worlds." 

The  question  still  remains,  What  light 
does  the  law  of  evolution  cast  upon  the  doc- 
trines of  immortality  1  What  confirmation  of 
our  faith  is  given  by  the  new  idea  of  creation 
which  in  recent  times  has  appealed  so  power- 
fully to  the  minds  of  men.  The  dictum  of 
scienc'e  is  that  the  career  of  man  is  not  com- 
pleted in  the  present  life.  Indeed,  ^Hhe  dis- 
covery of  the  law  of  evolution  has  furnished 
us  with  a,  powerful  argument  for  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul.^'  Man  is,  as  we  have  al- 
ready seen,  the  last  and  greatest  achievement 
of  nature's  work.  He  is  the  crown  and  goal 
of  creation.  He  has  been  the  end  to  which 
nature  has  tended  ever  since  the  time  when 
the  universe  rolled  as  a  cloud-bank  in  illimita- 
240 


The  Life  Everlasting. 

ble  space.  The  long  stages  through  which 
evolution  has  run,  the  formation  of  the  plan- 
ets from,  nebulous  haze,  the  preparation  of 
the  earth  for  living  creatures,  the  vast  pro- 
cession of  life  from  the  lowest  organized 
forms  to  the  highest  species  have  all  been  pre^- 
paratory  for  the  advent  of  the  human  being. 
And  at  infinite  pains  and  with  a  cost  immeas- 
urably great  has  nature  produced  him.  All 
the  energy  which  she  has  put  forth,  all  the 
suffering  she  has  undergone,  all  the  travail- 
ing in  pain  through  whicb  she  has  passed 
has  been  for  his  sake.  Must  we  then  suppose 
that  nature  which,  has  produced  man  at  so 
great  a  coist  will  cast  him  finally  into  the 
abyss  of  forget  fulness?  Is  it  reasonable  to 
believe  that  this  masterpiece  of  creation  ^s 
work  will  ultimately  slide  into  oblivion? 
Were  man  the  costliest  production  of  the 
process  of  evolution,  to  perisli  and  be  forgot- 
ten it  would  prove  conclusively  that  the  whole 
scheme  of  things  is  rooted  in  unwisdom.  Na- 
ture would  forever  stultify  herself  were  she 
to  destroy  her  last  and  finest  work.  We 
therefore  think  tliat  the  energy  which  nature 
has  spent  and  the  sacrifices  she  has  made  to 
produce  man  furnish  unmistakable  proof  that 
he  will  continue  forever.  The  processes  which 
16  2^1 


Fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

ha.ve  operated  to  produce  this  thinking,  free, 
and  moral  being  will,  we  feel  confident,  not 
end  until  he  is  crowned  with  immortal  life. 
John  Fiske  exclaims  that  ^4ie  who  regards 
man  as  the  consummate  fruition  of  creative 
energy,  and  the  chief  object  of  divine  care, 
is  almost  irresistiby  driven  to  the  belief  that 
the  soul's  career  is  not  completed  with  the 
IDresent  life  upon  the  earth."  Thus  ^'evolu- 
tion is  a  sort  of  philoisophy  of  redemption, 
and  is  tberef  ore  inspired  by  a  vast  hope. ' ' 


242 


APPENDIX. 

NOTES  TO  CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

Note  1 12 

Quoted  from  James  Freeman  Clarke.     "Ten  Great 
Religions."     Pages  5,  6. 

Note  2 23 

"The  World's  Great  Sermons."     Vol.  V,  page  174. 

Note  3 34 

Quoted  from  James  Freeman  Clarke.     "Ten  Great 
Religions."     Page  30. 

Note  4 40 

Quoted  from   George  A.   Gordon.     "Ultimate  Con- 
ceptions of  Faith."     Page  279. 

NOTES  TO  CHAPTER  II. 

Note  5 48 

Quoted   from    Flint.     "Agnosticism."     Page   567. 
Note  6 65 

"Modern  Sermons  by  World  Scholars."     Vol.  VII, 
page  172. 
Note  7 77 

Quoted   from   John    Young.     "The    Christ   of    His- 
tory."    Page  44. 
Note  8 83 

Quoted    from    BoAvne.     "Metaphysics."     Page    118. 

NOTES  TO  CHAPTER  III. 

Note  9 93 

Quoted  from  Greorge  P.  Eckman.    "Drew  Sermons." 

Note  10 96 

Quoted    from    John    Watson.      "The   Mind    of    the 
Master."     Page  259. 

Note  11 107 

Quoted  from   Hillis.     "The   Influence  of  Christ  in 
Modern  Life."     Page  83. 

243 


Appendix. 


PAGE 

Note  12 Ill 

Quoted  from   George  A.   Gordon.     "Ultimate  Con- 
ceptions of  Faith."     Page  277. 

NOTES  TO  CHAPTER  IV. 

Note  13 130 

Quoted   from    Bushnell.     "Nature   and   the    Super- 
natural."    Page  317. 

Note  14 140 

Quoted   from    Bushnell.     "Nature   and   the   Super- 
natural."    Pages  266,  267. 

Note  15 141 

Quoted   from    Bushnell.     "Nature   and   the    Super- 
natural."    Page  272. 

NOTES  TO  CHAPTER  V 

Note  16 167 

"The  World's  Great  Sermons."     Vol  VIII,  page  68. 

Note  17 172 

Quoted  from  Strong.    "Systematic  Theology."    Vol. 
I,  page  61. 

NOTES  TO  CHAPTER  VI. 

Note  18 189 

Quoted    from     Stalker.      "The     Ethic    of    Jesus." 
Page  28. 

Note  19 192 

Quoted  from  Channing's  Works.     Page  963. 

Note  20 199 

Quoted  from  Clark.     "The  Philosophy  of  Christian 
Experience."     Page  84. 

NOTES  TO  CHAPTER  VII. 

Note  21 223 

Quoted   from   Hamack.     "What    is   Christianity?" 
Page  175. 


244 


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